Collection Appreciation - Gao Jian's "Landscape Map"

In the early Qing Dynasty, because of the "fortune of Zhu Ming in the Manchu Dynasty, those who held power for more than 250 years, but their culture still exists in the old Han nationality" (Chen Shizeng's "History of Chinese Painting"), the field of painting also largely inherited the legacy of the late Ming Dynasty. "Kangxi and Qianlong are all in changping, and the scholars and masters are all elegant and elegant, and their graceful and peaceful weather is suitable for the taste of Nanzong, so Nanzong painting has an exclusive advantage" (ibid.). And because Wang Shimin was enshrined in the inner court, "the trend of Shen, Wen, Dong, and Chen spread in the painting circles" (ibid.), and the ideological interest of literati painting was "suddenly combined" (ibid.), and the early Qing Dynasty painting world presented a lofty atmosphere. At that time, the painters "all belonged to the four schools of the Yuan Dynasty" (ibid.), and most of them used "thirsty brush erasing, light ink rendering, and shallow baking and dyeing into one style" (ibid.). Gao Jian is a representative painter of this period.

Gao Jian (1634-1707), zi you, Deyuan, self-proclaimed Luyun, Yiyun Mountain, Yuhui old man, Jiangsu Suzhou people. He was able to write poetry, work landscapes, and paint mostly under the influence of the Yuan and Ming literati painting schools. Gao Jian's Landscape Map (see above) is a silk color, 144 cm in length and 49 cm in width, and is now in the Jinan Museum. The painter signed in the painting: "Ugly winter day, imitation of Ishida Weng pen intention in the quiet residence." Gao Jane. "钤" Gaojian Seal "White WenYin" and "澹游" Zhu Wenyin. As can be seen from the inscription, this is a work imitating Shen Zhou's penmanship. Shen Zhou and Gao Jian are "fellow countrymen" who have spanned more than two hundred years. They all spent most of their creative time in Suzhou. Due to political reasons in the early Ming Dynasty, the literati in Suzhou were purged. It was not until around 1470, with the maturity of Shen Zhou's painting style and the establishment of the Wumen School, that suzhou's literati atmosphere was revived. It is in this environment that Gao Jian's literati painting style has been better developed. In addition, Gao Jian's works are mostly taken from the Yuan Sijia. He is particularly fond of Ni Yunlin and has the seal of "Little Yunlin". Combined with Gao Jian's admiring attitude towards the Yuan and Ming dynasties, this "Landscape Map" not only has the meaning of imitating Shen Zhou's brushwork, but also can see the traces of Ni Yunlin's painting style.

　　This "Landscape Map" looms in the mountains, with verdant trees, waterfalls, calm lakes, pavilions and water pavilions, and ancient trees and bamboo trees. In the painting, there is a grass hall near the stream, and an old man fishing on the shore, showing a leisurely and quiet meaning. In terms of composition, the painter divides the painting space with the river water. In the close-up view, the old pine trees stand upright between the mountains and stones, and the huts and grass halls loom under the branches. The water flowing through the stones flows slowly in a quiet space. The painter leads the viewer along the riverbank path through the lush woods, past the dense rocks. The path disappears behind the mountain several times, and then reappears in the open, allowing the viewer to slowly enter the painting with the painter's layout. In this scene, the painter mostly depicts the mountain stone with a phimp, first dyeing with wet brush and light ink, and then using dry pen heavy ink for re-dyeing. The painter also outlined the contour line of the mountain stone with light ink to enhance its three-dimensional sense. In the distance, several majestic peaks tower to the right of the picture, and the distant mountains that follow combine to form an endless scene. The painter dyes the peak on the right with a light ink brush, and the far peak behind it uses light ink smudge to show the backward movement of space. In terms of distinguishing the spatial level between the middle and far views, the painter not only distinguished between the distribution of mountain stones and the method of piling, but also made different changes to the ink color of the trees. In the middle scene, the painter mostly expresses the leaves with thick ink, and the distant trees choose light ink to depict them. This form of expression not only stretches the sense of space of the picture, but also makes the two scenes of far and near naturally connect. Although the whole work has a bit of a scene of characters, it has been integrated into the atmosphere of remote silence. The scene in the painting seems to be a relict and independent space, and the flow of time cannot be seen. The painter seems to have just fixed the ideal scenery in his heart in the painting.

　　In the early Qing Dynasty painting world, landscape painting mainly respected the "Four Kings", and Gao Jian's record in the history of painting was relatively brief. Chen Shizeng and Huang Binhong both had a high evaluation of Gao Jian's paintings. From the ** of these two modern people, it can be seen that Gao Jian has a high degree of painting accomplishment. Although he taught the ancients, he also paid attention to integrating his own feelings into his paintings, paying attention to the expression of poetry and Zen, and striving to create a sense of quiet and open space in his works. His paintings have a precipitating power that makes people unconsciously blend into them.

——Transferred from China Painting and Calligraphy