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Fan landscape in the style of Huang Gongwang

mh_2014_38_v1_01-cdm.jpg

Aisin Gioro Hongwu, Fan landscape in the style of Huang Gongwang
Photo Credit: 

Laura Shea

Not On View
Aisin Gioro Hongwu
Chinese (1743-1811)
Place made: 
Asia; China
Fan landscape in the style of Huang Gongwang, late 18th-early 19th century (Qing dynasty, 1644-1911)
Ink and colors on paper
Housing: 24 in x 30 in; 61 cm x 76.2 cm; Sheet: 24 7/16 in x 24 9/16 in; 62.1 cm x 62.4 cm; Image: 9 1/16 in x 19 13/16 in; 23 cm x 50.3 cm
Gift of Professor and Mrs. Po-zen Wong
MH 2014.38

The Chinese tradition of painting on fans began in the Tang dynasty (618–907), though it was not until the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) that folding fans like this one became popular. The unique shape inspired Chinese artists to think creatively about their paintings. Small and delicate, painted folding fans gradually became a status symbol for Chinese gentlemen, who exchanged them as gifts, collected them as works of art, and carried them as a display of personal taste. The artist inscribed this painting with a sentimental description of the landscape, and also mentions that he is painting in the manner of the Song dynasty painter Huang Gongwang (1269–1354), in the traditional Chinese practice of shi-gu—“following the ancient.”

-Kendra Weisbin, Associate Curator of Education, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum (Jan. 2017)