Landscape
Shitao1698
National Gallery of Victoria
Melbourne, Australia
In this work, which according to the inscription depicts Mr Ge’s mountain retreat, a dynamic formal structure underlies the apparent disorder of nature. A system of building a composition out of composite masses and intervening empty spaces is evident in the left middle ground of the landscape. But Daoji embellishes the landscape with surface texture and the effects of light and mist, a result of his intimate contact with nature during his wanderings in the mountains.
The years spent in Peking seem to have confirmed Daoji’s rejection of ‘fang ’ imitation and the adherence of the Orthodox school to styles and conventions of the past, which had become restrictive and stifling to creativity. Daoji advocated a return to a state prior to the formulation of old conventions and also reacted against the over-intellectualisation of painting: the concern with ideas and theories, composition and brushwork.
Text by Dr Mae Anna Pang © National Gallery of Victoria, Australia
- Title: Landscape
- Creator: Daoji
- Creator Lifespan: 1642 - 1707
- Creator Nationality: Chinese
- Creator Gender: Male
- Date Created: 1698
- Location Created: China
- Physical Dimensions: 136.0 x 58.2 cm (Image and sheet)
- Type: Scroll Paintings
- Rights: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Purchased, 1979, =A9 National Gallery of Victoria
- External Link: National Gallery of Victoria
- Medium: ink on paper
- Biography: Daoji (1642–1707) (also known as Shitao) was born in the remote region of Guilin, Guangxi province. A direct descendent of a Ming imperial prince, Daoji was a cousin of the artist Bada Shanren (1626–1705). When the Manchu overran the south of China in 1645, Daoji’s father, the prince of Jingjiang, died after an ill-fated attempt to claim the imperial throne. Daoji at the age of four fled Guilin with a family servant. To avoid political persecution he became a Chan (Zen) Buddhist monk, adopting the Buddhist name Daoji. During the 1650s and 60s he wandered through the Yangtze River area, visiting famous mountains, living in monasteries and studying Chan (Zen) Buddhism. Until the later years of his life, when he settled in the prosperous commercial city of Yangzhou from 1687 to 1708, he spent most of his time travelling and mixing with scholars and artists. From 1690 to 1692, Daoji visited the Qing capital in Peking, probably as the guest of a Manchu official. Around the same time he seems to have given up his emotional commitment to the restoration of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and become reconciled to living under the Manchu. At the time Peking (present day Beijing) was the stronghold of the Orthodox school, and artist Wang Yuanqi was active there. Daoji painted a collaborative painting of bamboo and rocks with Wang Yuanqi, dated 1691. While in Peking he had the opportunity to see works by the Orthodox masters and many other paintings in Peking collections, including works by calligrapher and painter Dong Qichang. His knowledge of Orthodox landscape styles is evident in his works of these and the following years. In about 1696 or 1697, Daoji left the Buddhist order. He became a professional painter and built a studio called Daditang (Studio of Great Purification), where he taught painting.
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