元 倪瓚 江渚風林圖 軸|Wind among the Trees on the Riverbank
1363
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions
Image: 23 1/4 x 12 1/4 in. (59.1 x 31.1 cm) Overall with mounting: 102 1/4 x 22 1/4 in. (259.7 x 56.5 cm) Overall with knobs: 102 1/4 x 27 1/2 in. (259.7 x 69.9 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
China · Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988
Accession Number
1989.363.39
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Wind among the Trees on the Riverbank** (1363), a delicate hanging scroll in ink on paper by Yuan dynasty master Ni Zan, captures the serene essence of nature with masterful restraint. Measuring about 23 x 12 inches in its image area, this work unfolds on a grand mounting over eight feet tall, designed for intimate contemplation in a scholar's studio. Ni Zan (1301–1374), one of the "Four Yuan Masters," pioneered the literati painting style (wenrenhua), favoring sparse compositions that evoke solitude and purity amid political turmoil under Mongol rule. The painting's minimalist landscape—ev...
About the Artist
Ni Zan · 1301–1374
Ni Zan (1301–1374), born into a wealthy scholarly family in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, exemplified the reclusive literati ideal during the turbulent Yuan dynasty. Receiving a rigorous Confucian education amid Mongol rule's restrictions on Han Chinese officials, he cultivated poetry, calligraphy, and painting as expressions of personal integrity rather than professional pursuits. No formal teachers or...