Bamboo and Rock

The Suzhou painter Jiang Shijie was known for his landscapes in the dry brush style of the Yuan dynasty master Ni Zan (1301–1374). Despite the depiction of bamboo alongside a solid rock, motifs that represent resilience and strength, this album leaf presents a moment of relaxation and thus departs from usual conventions. The inscription suggests that the painter and his friends were sitting in a bamboo-filled monastery courtyard, listening to the sound of the autumn rain, composing lyrics, and waiting for the arrival of a singer (who, it seems, did not show up). (“Tradition, Transmission, and Transformation in East Asian Art,” curated by Cornell PhD student Yuhua Ding under the supervision of Ellen Avril and presented at the Johnson Museum January 23-June 12, 2016)