Fresh Forest After the Rain

This painting by scholar-artist Xiang Shengmo presents a fresh mountain scene drenched by rains. Xiang was associated with a group of artists from Huating (today’s Shanghai), including Dong Qichang, whose painting is shown in this case. The Huating artists employed conventional brushwork to build dense layers of hills in landscapes, yet they used new compositions as alternatives to traditional approaches. Here Xiang omitted a complicated setting of hills and streams to enhance clarity.

The foreground has two old trees with their branches entwined. Every leaf and stem features a clear, sharply outlined form. In contrast, the surrounding orchids, bamboo, and thorns were quickly rendered with light ink washes.

In a four-line poem on the painting, Xiang narrated his motivation for this lyrical composition:

Forest scents abound after the rain.
Birds enjoy clear ripples.
Overlapped mountains emerge from the distance.
The beauty appears on the hill.