Landscape in the Manner of Ni Zan 1717
huangding16601730
minneapolisinstituteofart
ink-on-paper, hanging-scroll
landscape illustration sketch
amateur sketch
light pencil work
pencil sketch
incomplete sketchy
ink-on-paper
hanging-scroll
ink drawing experimentation
pen-ink sketch
china
pencil work
watercolour illustration
watercolor
Huang Ding’s 1717 *Landscape in the Manner of Ni Zan* is a masterful example of the *literati* style of Chinese painting. This ink-on-paper hanging scroll, executed in the *mogu* (ink wash) technique, depicts a serene landscape with sparse trees, a winding river, and a distant mountain range. The composition, with its emphasis on empty space and suggestive brushstrokes, evokes the quiet contemplation and intellectual refinement valued by *literati* artists. The work is a testament to Huang Ding's skillful emulation of the Yuan Dynasty master Ni Zan, whose influence can be seen in the simple, elegant aesthetic.
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Huang Ding, also known as Kuang Ting and Du Wang Ke, was from Changzhou in Jiangsu Province. Like many Qing orthodox painters, he was influenced by the aesthetic theories of Dong Qichang (1555-1636) and he studied the landscape of Song and Yuan masters. Signed paintings by Huang cite the styles of Dong Yuan (c. 900-962), Ni Zan (1301-1374), and Dong Qichang as inspiring his own work. This simply composed, dry-brush landscape featuring a "one corner" foreground composition with a stand of bare trees and a scholar's hut separated from distant mountains by a tilted water plane suggested by blank paper is a compositional formula first popularized by the great 14th century literatus Ni Zan. Huang captures the character of the antique in this work by absorbing the compositional elements and dry brush technique of earlier masters.
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