Landscapes in the Style of An Kyon

Landscapes in the Style of An Kyon, Choson dynasty (1392–1910), 15th century
Unidentified Artist
Korea
Pair of hanging scrolls; ink on silk; Each 34 3/4 x 17 3/4 in. (88.3 x 45.1 cm)
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and Mr. and Mrs. Frederick P. Rose and John B. Elliott Gifts, 1987 (1987.278ab)

Description

Right: Autumn Moon over Lake Dongting. Left: Evening Bell from Mist-Shrouded Temple. These landscape paintings reflect the style of the school of the influential court artist An Kyon (active ca. 1440–1470) in their dramatic brushwork and use of discrete landscape elements to define space. Depicted are two scenes from the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, a Chinese pictorial and poetic theme that was popular in the Choson dynasty (1392–1910). The theme celebrates the landscape of the Lake Dongting region, in the modern Chinese province of Hunan, into which the two rivers flow. The poems extol the region's luxuriant beauty and romantic aura as a place of retreat and reclusion, aspects traditionally associated with the legend of Qu Yuan (343–278 B.C.), a statesman of ancient China who was banished to the south because of false accusations against him and, finally, in despair over his fate, drowned himself.