Autumn Mountains 秋山圖

Wen Zhengming, Ming dynasty (1368–1644), early 16th century 明朝

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Artist: Wen Zhengming (Chinese, 1470–1559)
Medium: Handscroll; ink on gold-flecked paper
Size: 32 × 489 cm (12 9/16 × 192 1/2 in.)
Museum: Art Institute of Chicago
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

The eminent scholar-painter Wen Zhengming mastered disciplined but unassertive brushwork to create subtly powerful and often poignant compositions. Ascending a steep mountain path, a man with a walking staff is the solitary inhabitant of this landscape; desolate huts and clustered groves of thin trees are his only neighbors. Horizontal strokes accent the densely layered and partially shadowed mountain contours – an intriguing blend or representational form and surface texture.

A poetic colophon by Shao Bao (1460-1527) is inscribed after the painting: In the Dao of painting, spring mountains are admired, But one can sympathize even more with autumn mountains. High winds overwhelm strong trees, Heavy rains - one can really see the springs. Tallow and plum trees are thin, Maple groves and apricot [trees] fade and groan. Yet when winter follows this, The pine and cypress are just as before." (translation by Stephen Little)

Text: Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0.