Artwork
明/清 佚名 倣藍瑛 倣黃公望山水 扇|Landscape in the Style of Huang Gongwang
明/清 佚名 倣藍瑛 倣黃公望山水 扇|Landscape in the Style of Huang Gongwang is an ink painting by the Baroque artist Lan Ying. It is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This anonymous work, titled Landscape in the Style of Huang Gongwang, is a folding fan, now presented as an album leaf.
About this work
Technique & Style
The artist employed ink and color applied directly onto gold paper, a support that provides a luminous background for the landscape imagery.
Created in 1772, this work is executed as a folding fan that has been remounted as an album leaf. The artist employed ink and color applied directly onto gold paper, a support that provides a luminous background for the landscape imagery. The composition depicts mountainous terrain, adhering to the landscape genre while referencing the styles of Huang Gongwang and Lan Ying.
Physical dimensions of the mounted piece measure 16.8 cm in height and 52.1 cm in width. As a product of 18th-century China, the piece represents a specific mode of handling fan painting where the original format was adapted for album presentation, preserving the formal qualities of the ink and color execution on the metallic surface.
History & Provenance
The work, titled Landscape in the Style of Huang Gongwang, is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with no recorded pre-20th-century ownership history. The painting is dated 1772 and is executed in ink and color on gold paper, mounted as an album leaf after a folding fan format, consistent with late imperial Chinese artistic practice. The work is attributed to an anonymous painter and identified as the work of a follower of Lan Ying in the style of Huang Gongwang, an attribution reflecting later connoisseurship rather than an original maker's record.
The provided sources do not contain specific accession numbers, inventory codes, or a documented history of exhibitions for this particular object.
Overview
This anonymous work, titled Landscape in the Style of Huang Gongwang, is a folding fan, now presented as an album leaf. Created during the Ming or Qing dynasty, it features a mountain scene rendered with ink and subtle colors on gold paper. The painting reflects a deliberate engagement with the artistic traditions of earlier Chinese masters, particularly the serene and balanced aesthetic associated with 14th-century landscape painting.
Subject & Meaning
The composition depicts a classic Chinese mountain landscape. Jagged peaks dominate the scene, complemented by a winding river, sparse trees, and a small, secluded house nestled among the rocks. This arrangement evokes a sense of tranquility and withdrawal, common themes in traditional literati painting, inviting contemplation of nature's grandeur and the human place within it.
Context
The practice of creating works "in the style of" earlier masters was a significant aspect of Chinese painting tradition. This piece, attributed to an anonymous artist and possibly influenced by Lan Ying's interpretations, demonstrates a profound respect for historical precedents. Such imitations were not mere copies but served as a means for artists to study, interpret, and pay homage to revered aesthetic lineages.
Artist & collection
Artist
Lan Ying grew up in the southeastern city of Hangzhou, where misty mountains roll into the sea.
