Landscape: mountain gorge, mist, a brook, and buildings
17th century
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Accession Number
F1911.167j
Tags
About this artwork
To 1911
Art Historical Context
In the 17th century during China’s Ming dynasty, artist Hong created this serene landscape painting. Born in 1577 and active well into the 1600s, worked within a long tradition Chinese painters who celebrated the natural world. The work, now part of the American Art Museum’s collection, a mountain gorge veiled in mist, with a brook flowing beside modest buildings nestled in the terrain. Such compositions the cultural importance of shan shui landscapes in Ming-era China, where towering peaks and winding waters often symbolized harmony between humanity and nature. The mist softens the scene, in...