清　柳堉　幽谷深林圖　卷|Remote Valleys and Deep Forests

Liu Yu

dated 1678 · Handscroll; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

Liu Yu, a Nanjing native, is not listed among the Eight Masters of Jinling (Nanjing), but he belonged to the same circle of leading collectors and artists active in the city during the late seventeenth century, when it was a vital center for the arts. Liu developed an eclectic style that combined the dry, linear brushwork of the Nanjing individualist Gong Xian (1619–1689) with the landscape forms and brush idioms of the Orthodox master Wang Hui (1632–1717). Liu further enlivened his integration of stylistic sources with playful shifts in scale and spatial distortions—visual effects intended to convey his "scholarly amateurism." Like other Nanjing masters of the time, Liu balanced his commitment to calligraphic abstraction with the desire to make his pictures visually appealing. Here, alternating familiar scenes of human habitation with dramatic depictions of natural scenery, he created a landscape that engages viewers and transports them to another world.

Artist

Liu Yu

Date

dated 1678

Medium

Handscroll; ink and color on paper

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Bequest of Marie-Hélène and Guy Weill, 2015