Landscapes

When viewing landscapes, either in real life or through paintings just seeing an open view of the world is always calming, relaxing, and enjoyable. Most of the time the view is of something simple and great. 

Such is the nature of these two landscapes, where one was made on a handscroll and the other on a folding screen. 

(Huang Gongwang, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, 1350, National Palace Museum, Taipe)

This shows a Chinese handscroll, called Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, a story about survival created by the painter Huang Gongwang from the Yuan dynasty. This 22 ft, long handscroll shows a vast landscape with many details and white space. Shown here is just a small piece of what the entire hand scroll looks like.

The story behind this piece, is that this handscroll was nearly burned but was saved by the nephew of Wu Hongyu who adored this scroll indefinitely. Wu Hongyu adored this piece so much it would accompany him through his daily activities. Such as eating, sleeping, even when he fled from the Manchu conquest. When Wu Hongyu was on his death bed in 1650 the scroll laid beside him. For his final request, he asked his nephew to burn it so the scroll can follow him in the afterlife. Luckily his nephew swapped out the painting with a replica, without Wu Hongyu knowing.

Due to that, the handscroll was separated into two parts, with the first part being called "The Remaining Mountain" and the other "The Master Wuyong Scroll". Where the first is placed in the Zhejiang Provincial Museum while the other is in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

(Bamboo in the Four Seasons: painting and poetry in Japan, late 15th - early 16th century, The Metropolitan Museum of Art) pt1.

In this painting, there are two parts, they both begin on the right and end on the left. It's called Bamboo in the Four Seasons, the four seasons are depicted on folding screens. Looking at the colors of this painting we can see that it has been through the test of time. Where some colors still come through vibrant and strong, while others are hardly visible. The four seasons begin with the first image it starts with spring and ends with winter. The panels of the painting show young bamboo growing with different elements from each season leading to the next. 

The bamboo trees are important to the Japanese as they represent courage, or eternal youth and strength. These folding screens are also a form of poetry. To show how something simple can be great and meaningful.

(Bamboo in the Four Seasons: painting and poetry in Japan, late 15th - early 16th century, The Metropolitan Museum of Art) pt2.

This is the image of the last part of the folding screen doors, is shows winter being the last image of the painting. The most eye-catching thing here is the motion of the bamboo tree being held down the weight of the snow. This shows the amount of detail put into this painting to really bring it to life. Although, if all the colors were present a gold streak would be seen running across the background of the entire piece. But because of how old this painting is the gold has been washed out over time.

Looking at these two great paintings side by side we can tell they both have great stories, that talk about the tale of time. Through surviving it and expressing it through the four seasons. These two paintings also have similarities in how they were treaded, the Dwelling of the Fuchun Mountains was cared for, in an unconditional way. While Bamboo in the Four Seasons was taken care of through the colors that were used to bring the seasons to life; as gold was used to represent the sun's rays. Although there are a few differences between the two, besides their lengths and heights. Such as the materials used; for Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, it was created on a paper handscroll. 

That's important because of how you read that story, revealing one piece at a time. Unlike Bamboo in The Four Seasons where you get the whole idea in one go of looking at it. One big difference is, we know the artist of one piece and not the other. The piece, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains has an artist to go with it, while Bamboo in The Four Seasons doesn't. In the end, the story of these two paintings is amazing, telling us there are somethings we cant keep forever. 

 

"Bamboo In The Four Seasons: Painting And Poetry In Japan – Smarthistory". 2021. Smarthistory.Org. https://smarthistory.org/tosa-mistunobu/.

"Huang Gongwang, Dwelling In The Fuchun Mountains – Smarthistory". 2021. Smarthistory.Org. https://smarthistory.org/huang-gongwang-dwelling-in-the-fuchun-mountains/.

“The Iconic Trees of Japan - Culture.” JapanTravel. Accessed February 15, 2021. https://en.japantravel.com/photostory/the-iconic-trees-of-japan/60486.