Listening to the Waterfall c. 1450

hanging-scroll, ink

toned paper

abstract painting

rough brush stroke

charcoal drawing

possibly oil pastel

hanging-scroll

ink

underpainting

china

painting painterly

watercolour bleed

mixed medium

watercolor

"Listening to the Waterfall" is an anonymous Chinese landscape painting from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) now in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The painting depicts a mountainous landscape with a cascading waterfall, rendered in delicate ink washes and brushstrokes. The scene evokes tranquility and solitude, characteristic of the literati tradition of Chinese landscape painting, which emphasized the artist's emotional connection with nature. The painting's composition and use of negative space also reflects the influence of the Song Dynasty (960–1279), a period considered a high point in Chinese landscape painting.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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In this evocative early Zhe school painting, a scholar-recluse lying near the edge of a cliff listens to the powerful waterfall that roils and boils above his resting place and crashes into the crevasse below. He has set aside his qin (zither) and book to enjoy the natural environment around him. The style and theme of this painting derives from the work of Ma Yuan (active 1180–1225), a well-known Song dynasty artist whose style had tremendous influence on Zhe school painting throughout the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). The qin-playing recluse enjoying a waterfall is one of the most popular themes in Zhe school subjects. The painting underscores the early Ming revival of Song dynasty (960–1279) painting. Looking back on this golden age of Chinese culture was a way of negating the artistic accomplishments—which were many—of the Yuan dynasty (1280–1368), a period of Mongol control.