Mountain Landscape

Although lacking an artist's signature, this large landscape can be assigned on the basis of style and execution to a mid- to late-seventeenth-century follower of the Nanjing School, such as Fan Qi (1616–after 1697) or Gao Cen (active 1640s–1679). Each element in the landscape is skillfully rendered. Sharp brushwork defines the trees and houses, while a palette of light, subtle colors, and a carefully modulated range of ink tonalities create a harmonious blend of gentle atmospheric effects. A stream and mountain path converge at the village, then split again, leading one's view alternately to the towering bluffs and crags on the left, or into a second valley with a distant waterfall at right. The artist's exposure to Western techniques of perspective, introduced into China by Jesuit artist-missionaries in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, is clearly apparent.