Minneapolis Institute of Art

Landscape

Yong

Date

17th century

Medium

Ink on gold-flecked paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

This landscape painting is an example of Individualism, a branch of painting in Chinese art that rejected realism in favor of artistic expression. Here, Yong has painted a sparse, impressionistic scene of a mountain and trees; there is very little sign of human activity, aside from a small hut on a plateau on the right. Yong was influenced by Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) artist Ni Zan, one of the greatest literati (scholar-artist) painters of that time, who created his quiet, somber, monochrome paintings in direct defiance of traditional concepts of Chinese painting, influencing many Chinese artists that came after him. Yong’s poem reads: I will not imply physical resemblance to painting I will paint this object sparsely and with simplicity, but endow it with emotion I painted this for a friend on an autumn evening China, Asia

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