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Five Millennia of Chinese…es of a Spritual Journey
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Five Millennia of Chinese Art: Images of a Spritual Journey.iso
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1994-11-29
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Early Spring
Kuo Hsi (ca. A.D. 1020-1090),
Sung Dynasty
Light color and ink on silk.
Hanging scroll.
158.3 x 108.1cm
Kuo Hsi, a native of
Honan province, served as
an official in the Imperial
Painting Academy. He
excelled at landscapes and
wintry forests, which were
executed in complex formal
compositions.
Early Spring is here
conceived of as mist and
forest-filled mountains. The
brushwork registers infinite
variations of pressure and
ink: the silhouettes of the
rocks and boulders are
delineated with a heavy
touch, the fog-washed trees
with a light one. The washes
work in harmony to express
a complete idea of nature's
forms under these seasonal
conditions, with the treetops
disappearing perceptibly
into the vapor, their trunks
still vigorously etched in
darker ink. Such virtuosity,
subtlety, and attention to
the details of expression
have been unmatched by
any of Kuo Hsi's followers,
and this work, dated
A.D. 1072, stands as the
painter's supreme
masterpiece.