Ni Zan / Woods and Valleys of Mount Yu / Yuan dynasty (1279?1368), dated 1372

Ni Zan
Woods and Valleys of Mount Yu
Yuan dynasty (1279?1368), dated 1372
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Creator Name: Ni, Zan
Creator Nationality: Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese
Creator Dates/Places: China 1306?1374
Creator Name-CRT: Ni Zan
Title: Woods and Valleys of Mount Yu
View: Principal view
Creation Start Date: 1372
Creation End Date: 1372
Creation Date: Yuan dynasty (1279?1368), dated 1372
Object Type: Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Materials and Techniques: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions: 37 1/2 x 14 1/8 in. (95.3 x 35.9 cm)
Inscriptions: Inscribed by the artist (upper right) and by the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736?95; upper left, dated 1759)
Description:

In 1366, Ni Zan abandoned his home to escape marauding soldiers. Even after the establishment of the Ming dynasty in 1368, Ni continued the life of a wanderer, visiting old haunts that he had not seen for twenty or thirty years. According to his epitaph writer, Zhou Nanlao (1308?1383), "in his late years, he became quieter and more withdrawn than ever. Having lost or given away everything he ever owned, he did his best to forget his worries. Wearing a yellow [Daoist] cap and country clothes, he roamed the lakes and mountains, leading a recluse's life ."

Woods and Valleys of Mount Yu, executed two years before Ni Zan's death, expresses the painter's contentment in the life of a recluse. The poem ends with the lines:

We watch the clouds and daub with our brushes/We drink wine and write poems./The joyous feelings of this day/Will linger long after we have parted.

The dry but tender brushwork is aloof and restrained. There is a tranquil luminous quality about the painting that makes it one of the most fully realized works of the artist's later years.

AMICA Contributor: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location: New York, New York
ID Number: 1973.120.8
Credit Line: Ex coll.: C.C. Wang Family, Gift of The Dillon Fund, 1973
Copyright: Copyright ? 2002 The Metropolitan Museum of Art . All rights reserved.
Rights: http://www.metmuseum.org/education/er_photo_lib.asp
AMICA ID: MMA_.1973.120.8
AMICA Library Year: 2002
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright (c) 2002 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All Rights Reserved

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