Object Details
Artist
Lan Ying
Date
Dated in accordance with 1651
Medium
Hanging scroll: ink and colors on silk
Dimensions
Image: 44 1/2 × 17 3/8 inches (113 × 44.1 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Martie and Alice Young
Object
Number
86.104
Lan Ying, a painter from the late Ming period, was noted for his distinctive blending of professiona(…)
Lan Ying, a painter from the late Ming period, was noted for his distinctive blending of professional painting techniques with literati traditions. Boating on a Mountain Stream is a typical example of his elegant and eclectic style in which the painter successfully combined a literati composition with professional use of color and shading. The painting depicted a scholar followed the course of a stream, and his boat was surrounded by rolling hills. A blossoming peach tree on the bank encourages the viewer to imagine that the scholar may be about to enter the realms of immortals, as was written by Tao Yuanming in his famous essay, “Peach Blossom Spring.” (“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)
