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'A Silent Opera' of Ch'ing Dynasty Art
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10670 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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1 / 1986 |
1,305 Words |
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Susan Fegley Osmond
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During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Chinese scholar-painters opened a new era of diversity and innovation in painting and calligraphy. Viewers can now relish the works of this era in an exhibition of "Painting and Calligraphy of the Ch'ing Dynasty," on display at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. until January 31, 1986.
In 1644 a tribe of Manchurian warriors marched into Beijing and brought down the 276-year-old Ming dynasty. The resulting Ch'ing dynasty ruled until 1911. The Manchu rulers adopted the culture of the land they had invaded, however, and their courts patronized the most traditional styles of Chinese art.
During the seventeenth century Chinese society became increasingly complex. The affluent merchant class gained independence from the court and the class of officials, and this in turn engendered a heterogeneity of tastes which supported an astonishing diversity in the arts. This flourished until the nineteenth century, when the declining fortunes of the state and the merchant class, and the waning of education in scholarly traditions among patrons, left the arts in a state of disarray.
At the Freer exhibition one can study the works of the most prominent scholar-painters of the early Ch'ing. Among these were men of the Ming royal line who found in Buddhist monasteries refuge from persecution by the new rulers. Here they joined the ancient Asian tradition of seeking religious enlightenment and intellectual expression through calligraphy and painting.
Shih-t'ao (1642-1707; also known as T'as-chi), a prince of the Ming royal family, was one of those who took up the contemplative life. Reacting against the academic and historical painting favored during the Ming dynasty, he developed a highly personal style and became the most influential of a group of artists who came to be known as "individualists."
A Visit in the Rain to Painter Tai by Shih-t'ao evokes the mood of a remembered moment through the contrast of wet-brush and dry-brush techniques and an unusual composition. His bold, spontaneous brushwork and his ability to develop new techniques to embody his vision had such impact that to this day painters look to him for inspiration.
Chu Ta (1626-1705), another descendant of Ming royalty, became not only a monk, but feigned madness to preserve his personal safety. He earned a reputation for being one of the most eccentric and influential painters of flowers, birds and fish. Indeed, as one views his album of paintings at the Freer, one could almost mistake him for a painter of our own day, so stringently simple and forceful is his style. Profoundly subjective, he appears to convey not so much the outer accoutrements of his subject, nor even its inner life force, but his own life-force or vital essence in relation to the central energy of the thing portrayed. Subject and object subliminally become one.
Most of the paintings in the exhibition are landscapes, considered to be the most intellectual and challenging of subjects because of the literary and historical allusions involved. One of the most beautiful and harmonious of these landscapes is Streams and Mountains after Rain by Wu Li (1632-1718). An artist in the orthodox style accepted by the court, Wu Li was nevertheless most
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