Artwork
南宋 佚名 江邨圖 團扇|River Hamlet
南宋 佚名 江邨圖 團扇|River Hamlet is an ink painting. It dates from 1213 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
A calm river runs below distant mountains, built up from simple brushstrokes that open a sense of depth. Ink and color on silk give it a soft, delicate feel. It dates to the 12th or 13th century, as Chinese landscape painting was gaining ground.
Subject & Meaning
The anonymous artist utilizes ink and color on silk to render these elements, creating a balanced scene that invites contemplation of the rural environment.
The artwork depicts a serene landscape featuring mountains and a river, characteristic of the landscape genre. As a fan mounted as an album leaf, the composition condenses a natural vista into a compact, circular format typical of Southern Song dynasty aesthetics. The subject matter focuses on the interplay between the rugged terrain and the flowing water, presenting a harmonious view of the natural world.
While the specific narrative or deeper symbolic intent is not detailed in the available records, the depiction of mountains and rivers in this period often reflected philosophical ideals of order and the enduring nature of the cosmos. The anonymous artist utilizes ink and color on silk to render these elements, creating a balanced scene that invites contemplation of the rural environment.
Technique & Style
Executed in ink and color on silk, the fan is mounted as an album leaf, typical of Southern Song small-scale works. The fine, even silk weave supports the delicate brushwork. The composition clusters low, layered hills along the lower edge, leaving a broad expanse of water that anchors the scene, while ink and light washes define depth and recession.
The handling favors an abbreviated, evocative manner over detailed description, consistent with Southern Song landscape painting. No detailed condition record is provided in the available sources.
History & Provenance
Created in 1213 during the Southern Song dynasty, the River Hamlet fan painting was executed by an anonymous artist. The work, an ink and color composition on silk, depicts a landscape featuring mountains and a river. Originally crafted as a round fan, it was later mounted as an album leaf.
The piece is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it resides as part of their Chinese painting holdings within the Department of Asian Art. No specific details regarding the original patron, the commissioning process, or intermediate ownership transfers prior to its arrival at the museum are recorded in the available documentation, and no specific accession number or exhibition history is disclosed.
Overview
This anonymous Southern Song Dynasty painting, titled River Hamlet, is rendered in ink and color on silk, originally a fan now mounted as an album leaf. It depicts a tranquil river landscape with distant mountains, reflecting the artistic trends of the 12th to 13th centuries when landscape art gained prominence in China. The work is housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Context
Created during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279), River Hamlet exemplifies a period when landscape painting, or shanshui, was flourishing in China. This era saw artists increasingly explore natural themes, moving beyond mere representation to convey philosophical and emotional dimensions through their depictions of mountains and rivers. The format of a circular fan, later mounted, was also a common and intimate medium for such works.
Artist & collection
南宋 佚名 泛舟柳塘圖 團扇|Boating by a Willow Bank
南宋 佚名 倣夏珪 觀瀑圖 團扇|Men Watching a Waterfall
元 盛著 秋江垂釣圖 團扇|Angling in the Autumn River
南宋 佚名 風雨拉縴圖 團扇|Towing a Boat in a Rainstorm
南宋 佚名 洞天論道圖 團扇|Conversation in a cave
Scholar Reclining and Watching Rising Clouds; Poem by Wang Wei
Scholar Reclining and Watching Rising Clouds, Poem by Wang Wei
Untitled
