Huang Ding circa 1660-1730

depicting a scholar with staff in hand, standing on the banks of a river under ancient pines, gazing upon an an extensive mountainous landscape with dramatic rocky crags wreathed in mists, punctuated by waterfalls and trees, with an inscription which may be translated:



Tall pines, elegant and vigorous, yearn to homage heaven, A rivulet from a rushing spring races down a hundred feet.  A twisting road stretches across the void where yellow cranes fly, No doubt this is the place where immortals dwell.  The Yongzheng era, pingwu year (corresponding to 1726), the third day of the fourth month.  Traveling to Wushi Mountain, I climbed the neighboring mist-shrouded terraces.  I observe the banners and drums and verdant green that blanketed the whole mountain.  When I returned to my studio I picked up the brush and smeared on ink.  Using Shen Shitian's (Shen Zhou) painting 'Lofty Mt. Lu' as inspiration, I slowly completed this composition.  Huang Ding of Yushan, bearing three seals:  Yisheng [?] ren mingshan fu (For all my life I have drifted among famous mountains.), Huang Ding zhi yin, Zungu

Chinese Paintings from the Henricksen Collection, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University;Tyler Art Gallery, State University of New York, Oswego, 5th September 2002 - 23rd February 2003, cat. no. 11, illustrated.

large repaired loss to right of inscription, other scattered small repaired losses, repaired creases, surface soiled, paper toned, modern mount
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Dr. Sewall Oertling notes that Huang Ding traveled widely, visiting the far corners of China, from Shandong to Xinjiang, Gansu to Guandong. Oertling quotes Shen Zongbo in quoting Yu Yi, who wrote "After Huang Ding had seen the landscapes of all China, he was able to capture their 'qi'. He is a great artist." (op.cit. p. 34). 

Reading this and seeing the present work, one can indeed understand that the artist has absorbed the spirit of the landscape, rendering an environment that seems to be alive, to writhe with energy. One can imagine the spine of a dragon in the central curve of the mountain ridge, the tiny scholar at the base of the dragon's tail, echoed in the serpentine trunk of the ancient pine.  Waterfalls cascade to the left and right of the ridge into misty cataracts which in turn lead down separate paths, ultimately coming to the calm pool at the feet of the scholar.  At the upper reaches of the composition, additional ridges are hinted at, disappearing into the distance. The brushwork echos this liveliness, with a variety of pattern and weight, allowing areas of relative calm to contrast with staccato brushwork and rhythmic pattern.