Landscapes

Gong Xian

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Gong Xian fled Nanjing when the city fell to the Manchus in 1645, and during this chaotic period, several members of his family perished. "Preserved through reclusion and purified in retirement," Gong came to terms with himself as an yimin, "leftover subject," under the new Qing dynasty. The loose treatment of landscape elements in this album, as defined by bold contour lines and repetitive clusters of dots, is indicative of its late date, probably around 1688. The contrast between pale ink washes and dark dots that enabled Gong to achieve both incredible density and translucency in his paintings is echoed by the contrasting dark and pale passages in his poetic inscriptions, which reflect the artist's spontaneous reinking of his brush.

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