Mountain Landscape, Hu Yukun

Exhibition Label:
"Asian Gallery," Jul-2003, Youmi Efurd
Hu Yukun, a 17th century Chinese poet and scholar, was well known in both artistic and literary circles in Nanjing. Like many other Chinese intellectuals, he retreated from the world of government officialdom after the fall of the Ming dynasty in 1644 and sought solace in nature and in the companionship of like-minded friends.
This landscape is one of Hu Yukun’s rare late works, inscribed as following the manner of the Yuan dynasty master Huang Gongwang. Huang’s influence can be seen in the systematic building-up of mountain and rock forms with soft, dry textured strokes.

Archive Label 1999:
Hu Yukun was well-known in both artistic and literary circles in Nanjing. Like many other Chinese intellectuals, he retreated from the world of government in 1644 and sought solace in nature and in the companionship of like-minded friends. This landscape is one of his rare late works, inscribed as follwoing the manner of the Yuan dynasty master Huang Gongwang. Huang's influence can be seen in the systematic building up of mountain and rock forms with soft, dry texture strokes. Rhythm and ordering were obviously of great concern to the artist, for areas of concentrated brushwork are carefully balanced with empty sections. In true amateur, or literati, fashion Hu has avoided rational, descriptive brushwork in favor of personal expression, and the overall treatment is relaxed and unaffected. The tiny pavilion seen admist the upper mountain peaks alludes to the life of the scholar recluse who found inner peace by immersing himself in the quiet beauty of nature.