Mind Landscape of Xie Youyu (Youyu qiu he)

Description

Zhao Mengfu was one of the most accomplished artists of the Yuan period. A scion of the Song imperial family, at the dynasty's downfall to the Mongols he remained in the south until 1287, when he was recommended to Qubilai Qan (1215–94; reigned 1260–94) to serve at the Yuan dynasty court in Dadu (present-day Beijing).

As a leader of a movement calling for a return to the spirit of antiquity (guyi), Zhao's work often refers back to an early mode of landscape painting, the blue-green style, which was practiced in the Jin (265-420) and Tang (618-906) dynasties. In Mind Landscape, Zhao draws archaic allusions through the flatness of its forms, its blue-green coloration, how evenly spaced its trees are, and the proportion of its figures to the landscape. The flatness of forms, blue-green coloration, evenly spaced trees, and proportions of figure to landscape are a few of the many archaic allusions. The scroll's subject is Xie Youyu (280–322), a scholar-official who once said that although uncomfortable in the confines of court, when surrounded by hills and streams, he had no equal. He is aptly portrayed here seated aloof across a stream in a landscape of his own imagination. According to a colophon by Zhao Mengfu's son Zhao Yong (1290–ca. 1362), this is one of Zhao's early works. The underlying theme of reclusion at court is particularly poignant for one who, like Zhao, transferred his former loyalty to serve in the Mongol court.