Sitting under a Pine
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Accession Number
F1916.595
Tags
About this artwork
To 1916
Art Historical Context
**Sitting under a Pine traditionally attributed to the Song master Ma Yuan (active late 12th– 13th century), to the Ming dynasty (8–1644), the 15th–th century. This delicate, possibly on a fan popular format for intimate Chinese landscapes—captures a scholarly figure beneath a towering pine tree a winding river. Ma, renowned for his " corner" compositions in the Ma-Xia, favored sparse, angular twisting dramatically against misty voids evoking vastness from elements. Though created later the work echoes this influential, blending man and nature poetic harmony. The scene cultural resonance lies...