Autumn Landscape, Lan Ying

Exhibition Label: "Asian Gallery," Jul-2003, Youmi Efurd Lan Ying was an accomplished professional painter of the late Ming period who drew inspiration from earlier Song and Yuan dynasty masters. He studied paintings by the great Yuan dynasty master Huang Gongwang (1269-1354) with particular intensity, evolving a style featuring mountains built up of a series of small, square rocks arranged along a central zigzagging vertical axis. In Autumn Landscape, the high-piled boulders interspersed with tall vertical tree trunks create a grand and expansive view of nature. Many of Lan Ying’s paintings were taken to Japan, where they had a strong influence on a number of artists working in the Chinese literati tradition. Archive Label (2003): "If one considers the uniqueness of natural scenery, then a painting is not the equal of real landscape. But if one considers the wonderful excellence of brush and ink, then landscape can never equal painting." These are the words of Dong Qichang, the leading scholar-artist of the seventeenth century. Through association with Dong's circle, Lan Ying, the painter of "Autumn Landscape" won praise and patronage. The idea of pure picture and "fang," or imitations of ancient masters in particular, were central to the art-historically oriented scholar-artists of the time. In "Autumn Landscape," the hemp-fiber texture strokes, the piled-up small boulders, the slender, bare tree trunks, the mountains and meandering river arranged along a central zig-zagging axis, and the overall soft brownish hue all refer to the great master Huang Gongwang (1269-1354), who was especially promoted by Dong's circle. Exhibition Label: "Ming Painting through the Eyes of Connoisseurs," Jan-2001, Marsha Weidner and Louis Morrison Lan Ying was a professional painter and a leading landscapist of the late Ming. He was also an active participant in the Ming culture of travel. His early travels took him to Dong Qichang's hometown, where he studied the old masters popular with Dong and his circle. Lan particularly embraced the style of one of Dong's favorite models, Huang Gongwang (1269-1354). Autumn Landscape paraphrases this style characterized by sparse trees, clusters of chunky, angular rocks, and flat-topped boulders piled up to create grand views of "hills beyond a river." Lan Ying's own considerable influence extended to Japan. This scroll was purchased by the Spencer Museum in 1986 for the light it sheds on Japanese painting, one of the museum's collecting priorities. The same year the museum staged Japanese Quest for a New Vision, and exhibition exploring Chinese influence on later Japanese painting (17th-19th centuries). Featured in this exhibition was Autumn Contentment, after Lan Ying, a copy of another Lan Ying scroll by Yamamoto Baiitsu (1783-1856).