Dong Yuan
Encyclopedia
Dong Yuan (c. 934 – c. 962) was a Chinese
painter
.
He was born in Zhongling (钟陵) (present day Jinxian (进贤) of Jiangxi
Province). Dong Yuan was active in the Southern Tang
Kingdom of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period
. He was from Nanjing
in the Jiangsu
province, which was a center for culture and the arts.
He was known for both figure and landscape
paintings, and exemplified the elegant style which would become the standard for brush painting in China for the next nine centuries. He and his pupil Juran
(巨然) were the founders of the Southern style of landscape painting, known as the Jiangnan Landscpe style. Together with Jing Hao
and Guan Tong
of the Northern style they constituted the four seminal painters of that time.
As with many artists in China, his profession was as an official, here he studied the existing styles of Li Sixun and Wang Wei. However, he added to the to these masters' techniques; he included more sophisticated perspective, the use of pointillism
and the use of crosshatching to build up a vivid effect.
The inlet by breaking the landscape into groups makes the serenity of the foreground more pronounced, instead of simply being a border to the composition, it is a space of its own, into which the boat on the far right intrudes, even though it is tiny compared to the mountains. Left of center, he uses his unusual brush stroke techniques, later copied in countless paintings, to give a strong sense of foliage to the trees, which contrasts with the rounded waves of stone that make up the mountains themselves. This gives the painting a more distinct middle ground, and makes the mountains have an aura and distance which gives them greater grandeur and personality. He also used "face like" patterns in the mountain on the right. Another of Dong Yuan's painting The Riverbank is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
, and was a gift from New York financier Oscar Tang
.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
.
He was born in Zhongling (钟陵) (present day Jinxian (进贤) of Jiangxi
Jiangxi
' is a southern province in the People's Republic of China. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River in the north into hillier areas in the south, it shares a border with Anhui to the north, Zhejiang to the northeast, Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, Hunan to the west, and Hubei to...
Province). Dong Yuan was active in the Southern Tang
Southern Tang
Southern Tang was one of the Ten Kingdoms in south-central China created following the Tang Dynasty from 937-975. Southern Tang replaced the Wu Kingdom when Li Bian deposed the emperor Yang Pu....
Kingdom of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms was between 907–960/979 AD and an era of political upheaval in China, between the fall of the Tang Dynasty and the founding of the Song Dynasty. During this period, five dynasties quickly succeeded one another in the north, and more than 12 independent states were...
. He was from Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
in the Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
province, which was a center for culture and the arts.
He was known for both figure and landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
paintings, and exemplified the elegant style which would become the standard for brush painting in China for the next nine centuries. He and his pupil Juran
Juran (painter)
Juran was a Chinese landscape painter of the late Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and early Northern Song periods.Very little is known about Juran's life, and not even his family name is known . He was a native of Chiang-Ning and worked at the Southern Tang court in Jinling...
(巨然) were the founders of the Southern style of landscape painting, known as the Jiangnan Landscpe style. Together with Jing Hao
Jing Hao
Jing Hao was a Chinese landscape painter and theorist of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in Northern China. As an artist, he is often cited along with his pupil, Guan Tong, as one of the most critical figures in the development of the style of monumental landscape painting which...
and Guan Tong
Guan Tong (painter)
Guan Tong , 關仝, , was a Chinese landscape painter of the Northern Landscape style during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period and early Song dynasty, a pupil of Jing Hao, and known as a critical figure in the development of the era's monumental landscape painting...
of the Northern style they constituted the four seminal painters of that time.
As with many artists in China, his profession was as an official, here he studied the existing styles of Li Sixun and Wang Wei. However, he added to the to these masters' techniques; he included more sophisticated perspective, the use of pointillism
Pointillism
Pointillism is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of pure color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term Pointillism was first coined by art critics in the late 1880s to ridicule the works...
and the use of crosshatching to build up a vivid effect.
Works
The Xiao and Xiang Rivers or Scenes along the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, a painting on silk (49.80 cm by 141.30 cm), is one of his best-known masterpieces. It demonstrates his exquisite techniques, and his sense of composition. The clouds break the background mountains into a central pyramid composition and a secondary pyramid, by softening the mountain line, he makes the immobile effect more pronounced.The inlet by breaking the landscape into groups makes the serenity of the foreground more pronounced, instead of simply being a border to the composition, it is a space of its own, into which the boat on the far right intrudes, even though it is tiny compared to the mountains. Left of center, he uses his unusual brush stroke techniques, later copied in countless paintings, to give a strong sense of foliage to the trees, which contrasts with the rounded waves of stone that make up the mountains themselves. This gives the painting a more distinct middle ground, and makes the mountains have an aura and distance which gives them greater grandeur and personality. He also used "face like" patterns in the mountain on the right. Another of Dong Yuan's painting The Riverbank is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, and was a gift from New York financier Oscar Tang
Oscar Tang
Oscar L. Tang is a Chinese-born American financier who is notable as a philanthropist for education and art. He donated millions of dollars to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Skidmore College, and the Gordon Parks Foundation, In 2008, he gave $25 million to Phillips Academy in what was the school's...
.
Gallery
See also
- Culture of the Song DynastyCulture of the Song DynastyThe Song Dynasty was a culturally rich and sophisticated age for China. There was blossoming of and advancements in the visual arts, music, literature, and philosophy...
- Chinese paintingChinese paintingChinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures. Early pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals...
- Chinese artChinese artChinese art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced in China or by Chinese artists or performers. Early so-called "stone age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly consisting of simple pottery and sculptures. This early period was followed by a series of art...
- Eight Views of XiaoxiangEight Views of XiaoxiangThe Eight Views of Xiaoxiang are beautiful scenes of the Xiaoxiang region, in what is now modern Hunan Province, China, as having been written in the poems, depicted in the pictures and known among the people, from the time of the Song Dynasty...
- History of Chinese art
- XiaoxiangXiaoxiangXiaoxiang , also transliterated XiaoXiang. Hsiao Hsiang, and Chiu Chiang, in some older sources, refers to the "lakes and rivers" region in south central China, more-or-less corresponding with Hunan, China, south of the middle-reaches of the Yangzi River. Xiaoxiang is less a precise geographic...
External links
- Dong Yuan and his Painting Gallery at China Online Museum