Artwork
明 佚名 風雨艤舟圖 團扇|Misty Landscape

明 佚名 風雨艤舟圖 團扇|Misty Landscape is an ink painting. It dates from 1499 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This work, titled "Misty Landscape," is an anonymous painting from China's Ming Dynasty.
- Accession no.
- 47.18.37
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition depicts a boat navigating a scene defined by mountains and clouds, visually embodying the title's reference to a misty environment.
Created in 1499 by an anonymous Chinese artist, this ink and color painting on silk presents a landscape dominated by atmospheric elements. The composition depicts a boat navigating a scene defined by mountains and clouds, visually embodying the title's reference to a misty environment. The work functions as a fan mounted as an album leaf, focusing on the interaction between the vessel and the surrounding natural forces.
While the specific symbolic intent of the lone boat amid the mist is not detailed in the available records, the iconography centers on the juxtaposition of human presence against a vast, cloud-obscured mountainous backdrop, emphasizing the mood of the weather in the tradition of landscape painting.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1499 by an anonymous Chinese artist, this work is a landscape painting rendered in ink and color on silk. Originally created as a round fan, the support has been mounted as an album leaf. The composition depicts a misty environment featuring mountains, clouds, and a boat, using the material qualities of silk to achieve atmospheric effects characteristic of the period.
The piece measures approximately 22.5 cm in height and 20.5 cm in width, reflecting the intimate scale typical of fan paintings from the Ming dynasty.
History & Provenance
Created in 1499 in China during the Ming dynasty, the anonymous Misty Landscape (風雨艤舟圖) is a fan mounted as an album leaf, painted in ink and color on silk. The work depicts a boat amid clouds and mountains and measures 22.5 × 20.5 cm. It is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inventoried as 47.18.37, and was accessioned in 1947. No documentation indicates a specific commission or ownership before its acquisition by the museum, and no exhibition history is recorded in the available sources.
Context
The work, dated 1499, is attributed to an anonymous Chinese painter and represents a landscape genre piece from the Ming dynasty. Housed in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the painting is executed in ink and color on silk, formatted as a round fan mounted as an album leaf. Its dimensions measure 22.5 by 20.5 centimeters.
The artwork depicts a scene featuring a boat, clouds, and mountains, characteristic of the landscape tradition of the period. While the identity of the creator remains unknown, the piece serves as an example of anonymous artistic production in late fifteenth-century China, its subject aligning with broader thematic concerns in Chinese landscape painting.
Overview
This work, titled "Misty Landscape," is an anonymous painting from China's Ming Dynasty. Originally conceived as a circular fan, it has since been remounted as an album leaf. Executed with ink and color on silk, the piece depicts a tranquil natural environment, characterized by atmospheric effects and a sense of calm.
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