南宋 佚名 洞天論道圖 團扇|Conversation in a cave

Ma Yuan|Unidentified

13th century · Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on silk · Asian Art

Although this painting bears the spurious signature of Xia Gui, the undisputed master of landscape painting in the Song Imperial Painting Academy, its motifs, brushwork, and palette relate it to the work of Ma Yuan, Xia's contemporary and the other leading Song Academy master. Images of caves and grottoes have rich associations involving their role as possible access points to Daoist paradises. The use of such imagery here may imply an escapist wish to leave behind the cares of the mundane world.

Artist

Ma Yuan|Unidentified

Date

13th century

Medium

Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on silk

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

From the Collection of A. W. Bahr, Purchase, Fletcher Fund, 1947