Hermitage under Pine Trees,

undated; ca. 1360 by style

This scene shows a mountain retreat with an open gate, welcoming visitors. The organic arrangement of the large foreground trees, angular central mountains, and distant peaks and sky shows an interplay of symmetry and asymmetry, near and far, and surface design and spatial form. These compositional traits indicate this painting is roughly contemporary with those of the Yuan dynasty master Wang Meng (about 1308–1385). Although it is signed “Xue’an” and dated 1309 in the upper left, close inspection suggests that the original inscription may have been cut off and the present ten-character line added at a later date, possibly to assign authorship.