清 龔賢 山水圖 冊|Landscapes and trees
ca. 1679
Medium
Album of twelve leaves; ink on paper
Dimensions
Image (each leaf): 6 1/4 x 7 1/2 in. (15.9 x 19.1 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
China · Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
From the P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Family Collection, Gift of Wen and Constance Fong, in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Dillon, 1979
Accession Number
1979.499a–l
Tags
Art Historical Context
Gong Xian (1618–1689), a leading figure among the “Eight Masters of Nanjing,” created this intimate album of twelve leaves around 1679, during the early Qing dynasty. A Ming loyalist who withdrew from public life after the dynasty’s fall, Gong turned to painting as a form of quiet reflection. His landscapes often evoke solitude and resilience, using nature to express inner states rather than literal scenery. Executed in ink on paper, each small leaf (roughly 6 by 7½ inches) presents a self-contained composition of trees, rocks, and distant mountains. The album format encouraged leisurely, per...
About the Artist
Gong Xian · 1619–1689
Chinese, 1619–1689