Lofty Scholar in Autumn Woods

A native of Songjiang, Jiangsu Province, Chen Mei moved while young to the imperial capital at Beijing, where he studied the styles of Song and Yuan dynasty (10th-14th century) masters, and became known for the polish and exquisite detail of his small landscapes. In 1726, he was appointed as a painter at the imperial court, where he continued to serve into the 1740s. During this time, Chen Mei came into contact with European styles of painting, which had been introduced to the Qing court by Jesuit painter-missionaries. While Chen's themes, compositions, and brushwork remained entirely traditional, his manner of using washes and shading to achieve atmosphere and three-dimensionality, and his modeling of rock formations to resemble the effects seen in printed engravings, such as the landforms in the foreground of this painting, were clearly influenced by Western art.