“Grotto Heavens and Mountain Halls”
Today, we go back over 1,000 years…
This hanging scroll of ink and color on silk is by the Chinese artist, Dong Yuan. It is titled “Grotto Heavens and Mountain Halls”, sometimes called “Dongtian Mountain Hall” and dates to the tenth century (c. 932-962).
Dong Yuan was an artist from Zhongling in the Southern Tang Kingdom in southeastern China. He was an administrative official while also an artist, serving as the deputy envoy of Beiyuan in the Southern Tang Dynasty. Yuan set the standard for Chinese brush painting for the next 900 years during the ‘Great Age of Chinese Landscape’.
In this piece, towering mountains shrouded in soft, misty clouds set the scene. At the foot of the mountains at the bottom left, the roofs of a large mountain hall are visible through the trees. The buildings are along the bank of a winding river, which falls down the mountain along rocks on the right. At the bottom right, an arched bridge spans the water. Pedestrians walk across the bridge, conversing with each other in this grand scene. On the mountain path to the right, two people can be seen ascending the steep path. Evergreen trees with soft needles decorate the scenery, further entwining people with the awesome nature around them.
During Yuan’s short life (he only lived to 30 years old), he founded the Southern style of landscape art, known as the Jiangnan Landscape style. This delicate style uses a soft brushwork and more sophisticated perspective, with a unified composition. Many of Yuan’s techniques are basic drafting techniques that are now used every day, including cross hatching and pointillism.
“Grotto Heavens and Mountain Halls” is currently in the collections of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan.
For more on Dong Yuan, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
