Misty River and Layered Peaks - Visual Analysis

“Misty River and Layered Peaks” Visual analysis

Zhongao Sun

Art History 1004W: Introduction to Asian Art

Dr. Georgiana Podulke

November. 9th, 2015

Visual analysis

The work of art that I choose in the gallery of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is Misty River and Layered Peaks. The artist who created this artwork is named Gu Yide, and he was a master of painting in the Ming Dynasty of China. This artwork was composed in 1608, using a Chinese brush with ink and colors on paper. It is also known as the “Chinese painting” in the modern-day China. The brush is the traditional Chinese tool to write words or paint on paper. When I was eight years old, I started to learn how to use a brush to write words on paper, which is professionally called “Chinese calligraphy”. Chinese painting involves the same technique as Chinese calligraphy because they are both done with a brush dipped in black or colored ink. I am quite familiar with Chinese calligraphy and Chinese painting, so I have a special feeling for the artwork of Chinese painting. Therefore, I was very glad to see this work of art in the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Also, Chinese painting played an important role throughout Chinese history. I choose this work of art not only because I have a special feeling about it but also because we can learn something about the history of the dynasty during which the work of art was made and know how the people’s lives looked in that dynasty.

There is no record to show how this painting was made. However, I can imagine the process of painting according to the history of art. This painting is called “Misty River and Layered Peaks”, which apparently contains rivers and mountains, and also contains some villages and boats. In the ancient times, many artists were fond of traveling around by themselves. When the artists saw the beautiful scenery, they would stop and feel the breath of nature. Also, they would like to paint on paper what they saw in nature. One day, Gu Yide walked through some villages, where are located in the forest, and a wide river was near the forest. He was deeply attracted by the beauty of the countryside, and then he used his brush to paint the scenery on handscroll. The technique that Gu Yide used in this artwork is relied on vivid brushwork and varying degrees of intensity of ink to express the artist’s conception of nature and his own emotions. The higher the intensity of ink is, the darker the color appeared on paper. He was the only artist who composed this piece of work, which needed a lot of effort.

The work of art is 22.54 cm wide but it has 934.72 cm long, which is extremely long. Therefore, such a long hand scroll must contain a lot of elements. Firstly, plenty of layered peaks are in the hand scroll. People can easily see the height difference of the peaks, with shorter peaks in the front and higher peaks in the back. Tall and straight trees are standing on the mountains. Over one half of the area of painting is filled with layered peaks, showing how magnificent the mountains were when Gu Yide saw the spectacular view. Secondly, a broad river with many boats is near the continuous layered peaks and some bridges are above the river. People were fishing on the river and may have sold those fish on the market for sake of a living. Thirdly, there are some villages on the mountains or near the mountains and the river. Those fishermen who were going fishing on the rivers lived in those villages, showing that people who lived in the countryside had comfortable, joyful and free lives and the artist looked forward to the life in the countryside.

Chinese painting has some traditional canons of style and Gu Yide remarkably obeyed those canons in his painting. The main theme of the painting is combination of the spectacular nature and country lives. He constantly portrayed a picture with this theme without any other unnecessary elements that would distract people’s attention. The brushwork is very important to Chinese painting because this is the only tool to painting as well as calligraphy. This work of art is composed of many single lines painted with a brush and the artist used strong black lines, ink wash, and sharp, dotted brushstrokes to paint rough stones. The artist also used strong black lines to paint trees so that trees can be very conspicuous among those mountains. In contrast to the rough stones and trees, the artist painted the hills and rivers in peaceful scenes with softer and rubbed brushwork. Also, from the bottom of the mountains to the top of the mountains, the black lines that were applied on the artwork gradually became stronger and the ink on the paper became darker. The lines were painted in the same direction so that it looks neat and in order and the artist used the rough side of the hand scroll because the rough side is better to express the layers of objects.

Also, composition is as essential as the brushwork to the painting. The artist would come up with a picture what the painting looks like before he started to paint. Each element is accurately placed at the position of hand scroll that are supposed to be. The continuous peaks were placed at the top of the hand scroll because they were farthest away from the artist. The villages were placed near mountains or on the mountains and those villages look very small so that it can reflect how tall and magnificent those peaks are. The painting left some empty space between peaks and thus the whole hand scroll does not look so messy and full. Also, it indicates the word “layered” in the title of this artwork because layer gave us an impression of arrangement of level of peaks, that is, empty space between peaks.

This painting depicts a quiet and harmonious pastoral life. People in those villages went fishing on the river, cut firewood in the forest and happily lived together. The artist was attracted to this place not only because of the beautiful scenery but also because of their living conditions in the countryside.  Being weary of the busy work and the noise in the big city, the artist wanted to have a relaxed life and enjoy the quietness in the village. He was so jealous and yearned for the life in those villages.

In conclusion, this work of art is a typical Chinese painting of landscape and the artist was adept at using strong or soft black lines to show peaks and rivers on paper. He vividly depicted a picture of relaxed and harmonious lives in the countryside. The arrangement of elements, the fabulous brushwork of painting and the picture of harmonious country life are key segments to express artist’s emotional feeling. The skilled brushwork and excellent composition make me experience it in the actual scene. The artist showed great painting skills in the Ming Dynasty and the wisdom of ancient Chinese people.