清　龔賢　山水圖　冊|Landscapes

Art Historical Context

Gong Xian’s “Landscapes” album, created in the 1680s during China’s Qing dynasty, offers a quiet yet powerful meditation on nature. As one of the leading individualist painters of his time, Gong worked in Nanjing after the fall of the Ming dynasty, using landscape painting as a means of personal reflection and artistic independence. This intimate album of six leaves invites viewers to journey through misty mountains and winding rivers rendered entirely in ink on paper, capturing the timeless Chinese ideal of harmony between humanity and the natural world. The album format itself is significant: each small painting, measuring roughly 8¾ by 17⅜ inches, was designed for close, sequential viewing, allowing the artist to explore shifting moods and compositions across the set. Gong’s masterful control of ink—from pale washes to dense, textured strokes—creates a sense of depth and atmosphere without color, demonstrating the expressive range of traditional Chinese brushwork. Acquired by the Metropolitan Museum through the Sackler Fund in 1969, these delicate works continue to exemplify the refined aesthetic of Qing-dynasty literati art.

About the Artist

Gong Xian · 1619–1689

Chinese, 1619–1689