南宋 馬遠 高士觀瀑圖 冊頁 絹本|Scholar viewing a waterfall

Ma Yuan

late 12th–early 13th century

南宋 馬遠 高士觀瀑圖 冊頁 絹本|Scholar viewing a waterfall by Ma Yuan

Medium

Album leaf; ink and color on silk

Dimensions

Image: 9 7/8 x 10 1/4 in. (25.1 x 26 cm)

Classification

Paintings

Culture & Period

China · Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)

Department

Asian Art

Museum

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Credit

Ex coll.: C. C. Wang Family, Gift of The Dillon Fund, 1973

Accession Number

1973.120.9

Tags

MenWaterfallsTrees

About this artwork

This intimate album leaf depicts a scholar in contemplation before a cascading waterfall, painted by Ma Yuan during the late twelfth to early thirteenth century. The composition exemplifies Ma's renowned "one corner" style, concentrating the pictorial elements in a portion of the silk surface while leaving expansive areas of blank space. The scholar sits in a gardenlike setting beneath a gnarled pine tree, gazing pensively into the bubbling rapids of the waterfall. The jagged rhythms of the pine...

Art Historical Context

In this exquisite album leaf from the late12th to early 13th century, Southern Song court painter Ma Yuan captures a scholar in quiet contemplation before a cascading waterfall Titled *Scholar Viewing a Waterfall the intimate scene unfolds on silk with ink and color, measuring 9⅞ x 10¼ inches. Beneath a gnarled pine in a garden-like setting, the figure gazes pensively at the bubbling rapids, surrounded by jagged rocks that echo the water's rhythmic flow. Ma Yuan's masterpiece exemplifies his signature "one corner" style, revolutionizing Chinese landscape painting by clustering key elements in...

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