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Guan Tong () (c. 906-960) was a Chinese painter of the
, Traditional Chinese art — Landscape Painting — The Five Dynasties, artrealization.com. Retrieved May 11, 2010.Wang Linxu
The Five Dynasties and Northern, Southern Song Dynasty
, Armstrong University, Beijing ICP. His landscape paintings achieved a believable and compelling portrayal of the natural world, an achievement typifying the tenth-century artists drive in the portrayal of nature. The great popularity Guan's distinctive style achieved is one measure of the popularity of landscape painting at the time.Banhart, ''Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting'', 93. ''Autumn Mountain Shadow'' is one of the paintings attributed to Guan Tong, and although there are several works attributed to him, there are no extant works bearing his signature. In this picture a barely visible steep path climbs through the rugged mountains. The work appears to be the visual equivalent of the poems describing hard journeys such as Li Bai's ''The Road to Shu is Hard'' (Shudao nan). Guan's works focus also on the representation of the cyclical seasons of nature: a concept central to Chinese medicine and many schools of Chinese philosophy.
Guan Tong favored the use of 'axe chopped' brushstrokes, Fu Pi Cun, to depict the angular rocky forms of the northern mountains. His strong peaks and densely compacted composition represents the northern tradition in its most likely form as scholars understand it today. Scholars describe Guan's works, along with certain pieces by his teacher Jing Hao, as advanced and impressive pieces for their era, and not works that should be counted as inferior or preliminary to the mature landscape art of the Song.
Twentieth-century artist
Landscapes Clear and Radiant: The Art of Wang Hui (1632-1717)
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Guan Tong (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Guan, Tong Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms landscape painters Later Liang (Five Dynasties) painters Artists from Xi'an Painters from Shaanxi 10th-century Chinese painters 900s births 960 deaths Year of birth uncertain
Northern Landscape style
The northern landscape style () was a manner of Chinese landscape painting centered on a loose group of artists who worked and lived in Northern China during the Five Dynasties period that occupied the time between the collapse of the Tang dynast ...
during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period and early Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
from the city of Chang'an
Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...
.''中国绘画全集'', Vol 2, p. 6. He was a pupil of Jing Hao
Jing Hao (, also known as Hongguzi) (c. 855–915) was a Chinese landscape painter and art theorist of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Northern China. As an artist, he is often cited along with his pupil, Guan Tong, as one of the ...
, and known as a critical figure in the development of the era's monumental landscape painting
Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...
.''Jing Hao and Guan Tong'', Traditional Chinese art — Landscape Painting — The Five Dynasties, artrealization.com. Retrieved May 11, 2010.Wang Linxu
The Five Dynasties and Northern, Southern Song Dynasty
, Armstrong University, Beijing ICP. His landscape paintings achieved a believable and compelling portrayal of the natural world, an achievement typifying the tenth-century artists drive in the portrayal of nature. The great popularity Guan's distinctive style achieved is one measure of the popularity of landscape painting at the time.Banhart, ''Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting'', 93. ''Autumn Mountain Shadow'' is one of the paintings attributed to Guan Tong, and although there are several works attributed to him, there are no extant works bearing his signature. In this picture a barely visible steep path climbs through the rugged mountains. The work appears to be the visual equivalent of the poems describing hard journeys such as Li Bai's ''The Road to Shu is Hard'' (Shudao nan). Guan's works focus also on the representation of the cyclical seasons of nature: a concept central to Chinese medicine and many schools of Chinese philosophy.
Guan Tong favored the use of 'axe chopped' brushstrokes, Fu Pi Cun, to depict the angular rocky forms of the northern mountains. His strong peaks and densely compacted composition represents the northern tradition in its most likely form as scholars understand it today. Scholars describe Guan's works, along with certain pieces by his teacher Jing Hao, as advanced and impressive pieces for their era, and not works that should be counted as inferior or preliminary to the mature landscape art of the Song.
Twentieth-century artist Chang Dai-chien
Chang Dai-chien or Zhang Daqian (; 10 May 1899 – 2 April 1983) was one of the best-known and most prodigious Chinese artists of the twentieth century. Originally known as a '' guohua'' (traditionalist) painter, by the 1960s he was also renowne ...
forged a painting which was successfully passed off as an original by Guan Tong; the painting was purchased by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...
in 1957 and was assumed, at the time, to be a work by Guan Tong. The painting is considered one of Chang's most ambitious and audacious forgeries.
Notes
References
*Barnhart, Richard M. et al. (1997). ''Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting''. New Haven: Yale University Press. . *Zhongguo gu dai shu hua jian ding zu (). 1999. Zhongguo hui hua quan ji (). Zhongguo mei shu fen lei quan ji. Beijing: Wen wu chu ban she. Volume 2.External links
Landscapes Clear and Radiant: The Art of Wang Hui (1632-1717)
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Guan Tong (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Guan, Tong Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms landscape painters Later Liang (Five Dynasties) painters Artists from Xi'an Painters from Shaanxi 10th-century Chinese painters 900s births 960 deaths Year of birth uncertain