Who painted 南宋馬麟松下高士圖冊頁絹本|Landscape with great pine?

南宋馬麟松下高士圖冊頁絹本|Landscape with great pine was painted by Ma Lin in second quarter of the 13th century.

Where can I see 南宋馬麟松下高士圖冊頁絹本|Landscape with great pine?

南宋馬麟松下高士圖冊頁絹本|Landscape with great pine is held by Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What movement is 南宋馬麟松下高士圖冊頁絹本|Landscape with great pine?

南宋馬麟松下高士圖冊頁絹本|Landscape with great pine is associated with Song dynasty landscape.

Artwork

南宋馬麟松下高士圖冊頁絹本|Landscape with great pine

Ma Lin , 1238

南宋馬麟松下高士圖冊頁絹本|Landscape with great pine is an ink painting by the Song dynasty landscape artist Ma Lin. It dates from 1238 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this work

Technique & Style

Visually, the composition focuses on a prominent pine tree within a landscape setting, depicting a scholar figure beneath the pines.

Created in 1238, this work is an album leaf executed in ink and color on a silk support. The painting, measuring 25.2 cm in height and 26 cm in width, belongs to the landscape genre and is attributed to the Southern Song artist Ma Lin. Visually, the composition focuses on a prominent pine tree within a landscape setting, depicting a scholar figure beneath the pines.

The medium combines ink washes with colored pigments applied to the silk, characteristic of the period's album leaf format. The piece is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Its formal qualities emphasize the naturalistic rendering of the tree and the atmospheric landscape, serving as a representative example of Southern Song landscape painting techniques.

History & Provenance

The album leaf titled Landscape with Great Pine was created by the Southern Song artist Ma Lin in 1238. Executed in ink and color on silk, the work measures 25.2 by 26 centimeters and depicts a landscape scene featuring a prominent pine tree. Originating from China, the painting is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it is catalogued as part of the museum's holdings of Song-dynasty paintings.

The specific circumstances of its original commission or the immediate chain of ownership prior to its arrival at the museum are not detailed in the available records.

Overview

Created by Ma Lin in 1238, Landscape with Great Pine is a small album leaf rendered in ink and color on silk. This painting exemplifies the refined landscape tradition of the Southern Song court. It features a solitary scholar positioned beneath a large, twisted pine tree, with distant mountains veiled in mist. The work highlights the grandeur of nature, a common theme in Chinese painting of the period.

Subject & Meaning

The painting centers on a towering pine tree, its expansive branches dominating the composition, under which a small, lone scholar is seated on a rocky outcrop. This scale emphasizes the vastness and power of the natural world over human presence, a recurring philosophical concept in East Asian art. Distant, ethereal peaks further enhance the sense of a grand, immersive landscape.

Context

This artwork belongs to the Southern Song dynasty's esteemed landscape tradition, which flourished under imperial patronage. Such small-format paintings were typically created as album leaves, intended for intimate appreciation rather than large-scale display. They offered viewers a personal, contemplative experience of idealized natural settings, often featuring scholars or recluses as symbols of intellectual retreat.