Who painted 清戴本孝天台異松圖軸紙本|The Strange Pines of Mount Tiantai?

清戴本孝天台異松圖軸紙本|The Strange Pines of Mount Tiantai was painted by Dai Benxiao in 1687.

Where can I see 清戴本孝天台異松圖軸紙本|The Strange Pines of Mount Tiantai?

清戴本孝天台異松圖軸紙本|The Strange Pines of Mount Tiantai is held by Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What movement is 清戴本孝天台異松圖軸紙本|The Strange Pines of Mount Tiantai?

清戴本孝天台異松圖軸紙本|The Strange Pines of Mount Tiantai is associated with Baroque.

Artwork

清戴本孝天台異松圖軸紙本|The Strange Pines of Mount Tiantai

Dai Benxiao , 1687

清戴本孝天台異松圖軸紙本|The Strange Pines of Mount Tiantai is an ink painting by the Baroque artist Dai Benxiao. It dates from 1687 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work titled The Strange Pines of Mount Tiantai is a hanging scroll executed in ink on paper.

About this work

You see a tall, narrow scroll of ink on paper: jagged peaks, a waterfall, and two twisted pines clinging to a cliff.

You see a tall, narrow scroll of ink on paper: jagged peaks, a waterfall, and two twisted pines clinging to a cliff.

Dai Benxiao painted this in 1687, late in his life. The pines aren’t just trees, they’re old friends, gnarled and stubborn, surviving where nothing else can. The ink is so light in places it feels like mist rising off the rocks.

If you like these quiet, ink-washed mountains, look up mountains, china.

Subject & Meaning

The painting presents a mountain identified in its title as Mount Tiantai. The catalogue entry describes it as a hanging scroll of ink on paper dated 1687, created in China and classified as a landscape painting. The subject is a mountain, a motif that in Chinese art often conveys spiritual transcendence and the Daoist reverence for sacred peaks.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art records the work as part of its collection, noting its Chinese origin and its depiction of a mountain.

Technique & Style

Created in 1687, The Strange Pines of Mount Tiantai is executed as a hanging scroll using ink on paper. The work belongs to the landscape genre and depicts mountain scenery, characteristic of Dai Benxiao's output during the Qing dynasty. As a paper-based hanging scroll, the medium calls for a specific handling of ink that emphasizes texture and tonal variation typical of the artist's approach to natural forms.

History & Provenance

The hanging scroll The Strange Pines of Mount Tiantai was created by the artist Dai Benxiao in 1687. Executed in ink on paper, this landscape work depicts a mountainous scene and is classified as a painting of the Qing dynasty. It is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

While the specific commissioning patron and the detailed chain of ownership prior to its arrival at the museum are not detailed in the available records, the work is firmly dated to 1687. The source does not provide a specific accession or inventory number, and no exhibition history is recorded.

Context

The hanging scroll is recognized as a Qing-period landscape that exemplifies the style of Dai Benxiao, an artist noted for his ink rendering of natural forms. Its depiction of an imagined mountain aligns with the genre's tradition of fantastical scenery, and its inclusion in the Metropolitan Museum of Art supports the study of its compositional techniques and its place within 17th-century Chinese painting.

Overview

The work titled The Strange Pines of Mount Tiantai is a hanging scroll executed in ink on paper. Attributed to the Qing‑dynasty painter Dai Benxiao, it was completed in 1687, near the end of the artist’s career. The composition presents a rugged mountain landscape rendered in monochrome, characteristic of literati ink painting.