At the core of the meaning of this Chinese movement lies the infinite possibilities of the void, everything that exists and everything that doesn’t. Mountains were associated to the divine, as they reach to the skies, and along with clouds and fog, the scenarios would represent the void, a key concept in Chinese art (not exclusively on landscape painting). “Water and mountain” were so central in this art form that a painter would be recognized as a masterful one if it was considered it was able to pause water, immovable while allowing mountains to flow and constantly move in the painting. This would allow to see not only who the creator was but look at the different hands that possessed the piece of art. In the same way that every owner of the painting would leave a stamp on the paper. Every artist would have a seal which he would print on the painting. An interesting element of Chinese paintings is that they are usually accompanied by a number of seals or stamps. As the painting is unrolled or developed and opened, other parts of the painting are close, making some of the elements appear and others disappear. One of the most interesting formats is that of rolled papers, which similarly to a film, uncover a story, and expose a visual narrative. Every format allows for a different way of observation and interpretation. Unlike European art, paintings in China are elaborated for private contemplation, a very intimate approach that allows for the spirit and inspiration of whoever possessed the piece. The technique is similar to that of watercolour since it does not allow retouching the painting, this art requires high skills and a fast-paced movement. The brush becomes the extension of the arm and hand of the artist it is the object transmitting and embodying the creator’s expressive nature. In fact, many landscape paintings are not actually based on existing landscapes but are an imaginary composition of every artist, an abstract idea of inspiration captured in a unique way. The stroke is the amalgamation of the artists’ essence and vision, unlike many artistic movements, the search for meaning through a faithful mimetic representation of reality is left behind. The objective and main point of these sort of paintings does not lay on colour, but on the strokes. Generally speaking painting in China traditionally is monochromatic, using black ink on raw or white paper. As heirs to a distinguished artistic legacy, many contemporary Chinese ink painters have devised new styles and modes of presentation within a traditional framework.Traditional painting in this country is not considered as an independent form of art, but it is part of the “brush art” which included poetry, calligraphy and painting in one single discipline, in that order of importance, and it is generally taught and mastered by scholars of this tradition. Korea, in particular, adopted many Chinese aesthetic and cultural values, over time transforming them into new, distinctively Korean styles. This literati ideal gained popularity in Korea during the Chosŏn dynasty and within certain schools of Japanese art during the Edo period (1615–1868). Influential literati artists and art critics of the succeeding Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties continued to promote the ideal of landscape painting as an expression of the artist’s learning, ethics, and personality. During the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), literati painters-scholar-gentlemen who had mastered the arts of the calligraphic brush-denounced the highly polished, conventionally realistic works of professional artists and exalted the expressive value of brushwork. Throughout the Song dynasty (960–1279), naturalistic depiction was the primary goal of Chinese painting. Whether real locations or imagined settings, painted landscapes evoked the experience of being in nature and became a virtual means of escape from the hardships of urban living. The term for landscape paintings in East Asia translates as “mountains and water” (Chinese: shanshui Korean: sansu Japanese: sansui), because landscapes always feature these two elements, often in the form of a grand mountain peak and a waterfall, or rolling hills along a river. The works in this section of the gallery feature Korean landscapes from the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910) as well as contemporary Chinese ink paintings that reveal the lasting legacy of the great Chinese landscape tradition. Among these, landscape paintings have claimed pride of place. The subjects of East Asian secular paintings are diverse, ranging from landscapes to flora and fauna, figures, and narrative scenes. For more than a thousand years the most admired works of art in China and Korea have reflected a deep appreciation of nature.
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