River and Mountain Landscape
Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions
54.2 × 27 cm (21 5/16 × 10 5/8 in.)
Classification
hanging scroll
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
76267
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Xiang Shengmo was a grandson of Xiang Yuanbian (1525–90), a distinguished connoisseur and collector of painting and calligraphy. The artist drew upon a wide range of ancient sources for his small-scale landscapes, which are renowned for their meticulous draftsmanship and quiet mood. The lone figure depicted here likely represents a reclusive scholar-official who has withdrawn from society into the solitude of nature—an ideal to which Xiang and other artists aspired. The collapse of the Ming dyna...
About the Artist
Xiang Shengmo · 1597–1658
Chinese, 1597–1658