Autumnal Colors Among Streams and Mountains by Jin Yongxi

Autumnal Colors Among Streams and Mountains 1723

ink, color-on-paper

landscape illustration sketch

toned paper

light pencil work

pencil sketch

leaf

ink

color-on-paper

coloured pencil

pen-ink sketch

china

watercolour illustration

mixed medium

pencil art

watercolor

Jin Yongxi’s *Autumnal Colors Among Streams and Mountains* (1723) is a landscape painting that showcases the artist’s mastery of brushwork and ink. The painting depicts a serene mountain scene with a winding stream flowing through a valley. The artist uses a limited palette of colors, focusing on the subtle variations in the hues of the rocks and trees. The image's composition, with the mountain peaks dominating the foreground, draws the viewer’s eye upward, creating a sense of tranquility and awe. This painting is a beautiful example of the *shanshui* (mountain-water) genre of Chinese landscape painting.

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minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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Jin Yongxi, a literati painter from Suzhou, was a pupil of the orthodox master Wang Yuanqi (1642-1715). Each leaf of this exceptionally large album is inspired by a past master of the Song (960-1279) or Yuan (1280-1368) literati tradition. Jin has inscribed the name of the artist that inspired each of his compositions. Although Jin's paintings vary considerably from their sources, they do capture the essential style associated with the famous painters he emulates. While working in Beijing, Jin apparently had access to the imperial collection which accounts for his broad and accurate knowledge of historical styles of painting. The Qinglai pavilion in which the artist painted this album likely belonged go the literatus, Gao Shiqi (1645-1703), a high official and secretary to the emperor. A major collector, Gao may in fact have commissioned the album.