Landscape in the style of Fan Kuan

Unidentified artist

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Once considered a work of the Ming period (1368–1644), this monumental landscape in the style of Fan Kuan can be dated stylistically to the twelfth century. A mountainscape built up in three stages, the painting shows a boat landing at the foot of a tree-covered bluff in the foreground; travelers heading toward a temple retreat in the middle ground; and mountain peaks rising in the background. The composition, showing mountain masses floating amid and unified by mist, compares closely to works firmly dated to the twelfth century. For example, the depiction of rocks and trees partially obliterated by mist and the blurring and fusing of texture strokes of different ink values reveal the artist’s familiarity with the paintings of Guo Xi (ca. 1000–ca. 1090). The angular rock faces with “raindrop” texture dots and the scrubby foliage on the peaks are characteristic of paintings in the style of Fan Kuan.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art