Working with Space and Line CHINESE PAINTING

CAPTURING THE ESSENCE “In figure painting, the artists must make the form show the spirit.”- Gu Kaizhi, 4 th Century Painter

“Kung Fu”

“Yao Ming”

“Kung Fu” “Yao Ming” take out food

“Kung Fu” “Yao Ming” take out food the “Great Wall”

What country comes to mind??? “Kung Fu” “Yao Ming” take out food the “Great Wall”

CHINA Western civilization had its beginnings in the middle East. Over the centuries, the Western world’s cultural center moved from one area and people to another. Ancient Egypt Greece Rome Europe the Americas

CHINESE CULTURE HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN THE SAME PLACE China’s history is very complex, but it is made simpler by dividing the centuries into smaller pieces called dynasties (rulers from the same family). Some Dynasties were short, while others lasted hundreds of years. Some were calm and productive, others were violent and corrupt. Sculpture was the earliest of the Chinese art forms. Once paper was invented, painting became more important. Figures were always a popular subject. In the Tang Dynasty, China was united by Emperor Taizong(right). During his peaceful and prosperous time, painters created realistic portraits an lifelike, detailed scenes of royal life in what is known as the court style.

Later, artists known as scholar painters continued the figure tradition, but in a very different way. Their figures are set in vast landscapes. The focal point of Spring Landscape(right) is a man on horseback. Can you find his tiny figure in the foreground of this vertical hanging scroll? The work’s asymmetrical composition contrasts the positive shapes of the land with the negative spaces of the water and sky.

A hanging scroll is viewed all at one time. Hand Scrolls, such as the long, horizontal Horse and Groom (below) are seen in pieces by rolling and unrolling them.

This 20-foot hand scroll shows scenes in the royal palace and gardens. The large detail depicts a royal painter, painting portraits in the court style. By the end of the Tang Dynasty, Chinese painting had fallen into three main visual categories: Figure, landscape, and bird/flower painting.

RHYTHMS OF NATURE “We humans are not meant to fully understand nature, but try to live harmoniously with the weather, the mountains and the water that is essential to life.” - Su Shih, 11 th Century Poet and Painter At the Beginning of the Tang Dynasty, people were the main subjects of Chinese paintings. Landscape served only as a background. When the Tang Dynasty ended 300 years later, landscape had become a subject in itself. As this dynasty fell apart, the small solidary figures in these stylized landscapes also may have expressed a desire for escape from political unrest into an idealized natural world.

Mansions in the Mountains of Paradise was painted in the “blue and green” style by Scholar painter Tung Yuan at the end of the Tang Dynasty. The treatment of space in this hanging scroll reflects the Chinese feeling about nature. This mountain landscape’s vertical format intensifies the feeling of mysterious grandeur. The negative spaces created by the mist divide the composition into foreground, middle ground and background areas.

Exaggerated concetric curves are repeated in the mountains, trees and foreground areas. The soft, graduated shapes of the clouds have been superimposed (painted on top of) on the mountains, adding a sense of awe and wonder. In the lower right corner, you can just make out a group of tiny figures on a bridge, reinforcing the concept that humans are just one part of a large natural world.

Landscape painting reached its height during the long and prosperous Song Dynasty. With a few lines and a limited color scheme, scholar-painter Qian Gu created an entire world on a small folding fan. In Seated Scholar under a Cliffside Pavilion, the infinite expanse of sea and sky are indicated by untouched areas of negative space. The small figure location-at the exact center of the fan- makes him the focal point of the composition. The scholar’s connection to nature is emphasized by the repetition of his triangular shape in that of the shelter’s roof, the trees on the island, and the mountains in the distance.

Landscape continued to be a popular subject well into the last Chinese dynasty- the Ching. The Peach Blossom Fishing Boat by scholar- painter Wang Hui is a narrative landscape illustrating the story of a fisherman who finds a magical spring.

“Oblivious to the distance he traveled, he suddenly found himself in a forest of blossoming peach trees that lined the river banks.” The high point of view suggests the majesty of nature. A small boat in the upper left corner is dwarfed by the height of the cliffs.

Watercolor washes and the white of the paper capture the fleeting effects of the mist. The positive shapes of the rocks and trees fade in and out, covered by the swirling, negative cloud layers. The active diagonal of the river cuts across the horizontal format, emphasizing the force of the water.