南宋/元　佚名　六馬圖　卷|Six Horses

Unidentified artists

13th–14th century · Handscroll; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

The disparities in paper, pigment, and style between the two halves of this painting make it clear that they are by different hands and from different periods. In the first half of the painting, the horses and figures are well drawn and there is a rough vigor in the depiction of the landscape and trees. The shading of the land forms and the bold modulated outlines defining the figures, who wear typical Khitan costumes, most closely resemble murals done in the eleventh and twelfth centuries in north China, then ruled by the Khitan Liao dynasty (907–1125). In the second half, the unmodulated, "iron-wire" lines used to describe the drapery folds of the rider, the heavy outline of the rock, and the dry calligraphic texture of the tree suggest a fourteenth-century date.

Artist

Unidentified artists

Date

13th–14th century

Medium

Handscroll; ink and color on paper

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988