Interpretation
One of the leading masters of Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) landscape painting, Fan Kuan created images that celebrate majestic mountains, rocks, and streams. Such monumental landscapes continued to be popular in subsequent periods, and later artists attempted to emulate Fan Kuan’s style. The Yuan dynasty artist responsible for this example reinterpreted Fan’s characteristic miniature texture dots as an unvarying surface pattern in shades of gray. The lengthy inscription above the painting describes the image’s “lofty and steep and sharp peaks”
and “leaves [that] tarry in green, while some have drifted to red.”
and “leaves [that] tarry in green, while some have drifted to red.”
Information
- Title
- Landscape in the Style of Fan Kuan 范寬 (act. ca. 990-1030)
- Object Number
- y1946-186
- Maker
- Anonymous
- Medium
- Hanging scroll; ink and light color on silk
- Dates
- undated; 13th–14th centuries
- Dimensions
- Painting: 175.2 x 105.4 cm. (69 x 41 1/2 in.) Colophon: 31.7 x 106 cm. (12 1/2 x 41 3/4 in.) Mount: 333.5 x 118.5 cm. (131 5/16 x 46 5/8 in.)
- Credit Line
- Gift of DuBois Schanck Morris, Class of 1893
- Culture
- Chinese
- Period
- Yuan dynasty
- Place made
- Asia, China
- Signatures
- unsigned
- Inscriptions
- colophon on mounting
- Marks/Labels/Seals
- Six characters in ink on label adhered to edge of rolled scroll
1898 – ca. 1926 acquired in China by DuBois Schanck Morris (1873-1956), based in Anhui, China; 1946 gift to Princeton University Art Museum
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The Museum regularly researches its objects and their collecting histories, updating its records to reflect new information. We also strive to catalogue works of art using language that is consistent with how people, subjects, artists, and cultures describe themselves. As this effort is ongoing, the Museum’s records may be incomplete or contain terms that are no longer acceptable. We welcome your feedback, questions, and additional information that you feel may be useful to us. Email us at collectionsinfo@princeton.edu.
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