Landscape (Juran Style) 

This landscape in the style of Juran was made with ink on paper by Bada Shanren in China, sometime in the late 17th or early 18th century. This was a politically turbulent period, and Bada Shanren was a member of the fallen Ming dynasty. It is likely that he became a Buddhist monk as a means of self-protection under the new Qing rulers. This painting presents itself as a continuation of traditional landscape styles. But we need to remember that it was made in a very specific context of dynastic change and personal trauma. The cultural and institutional context in which artists operate plays a critical role in shaping their creative output. Scholars have noted the way that Shanren's art departs from tradition by employing distorted forms and highly personal symbolic content. To understand this painting more fully, we would need to consider its place within the network of artistic patronage, the changing social status of artists, and the religious and philosophical ideas of the time.