Gao Xiang Landscape Atlas

[Gaoxiang Landscape Map Volume]

Landscape Map Volume, Qing Dynasty, Gaoxiang Painting, paper edition, ink brush, 26 cm in length and 151.3 cm in width
The message at the end of the volume: “Yongzheng Jiachen was written in Wuyue Thatched Cottage on the new day of August in autumn. The people of Xitang Mountain are soaring.” The seal of “Xitang Mountain People” is white. The year of “Jiachen” is the second year of Yongzheng (1724)
In the painting, the mountains are undulating, the vegetation is verdant, the river is open and far away, and the fishing boats come and go in the distance, busy with work. The towers, pavilions and pavilions beside the water in the mountains are quiet and pleasant. The whole picture does not win by momentum, but by emotion. It should depict the scenery of Jiangnan Watertown that the painter is familiar with. The composition of the picture has a certain realism, which makes people feel cordial. Gao Xiang combines realism with lyricism, integrates the real feelings of the landscape and people in his hometown, and uses light ink to describe a “Peach Blossom Land” full of life interest
This painting inherits the tradition of Huang Gongwang and Ni Zan of the Yuan Dynasty in the painting method, but it is also comprehensive and self-contained. The mountains and stones are all painted with “Pima Cun”, with slight moss spots, almost without rendering. The brushwork is simple and sparse, and the ink color is elegant, which reflects the ethereal feeling of the landscape. Most of the trees have double-hook branches, leaves or circles or dots, and the ink is clear and moist, which shows the characteristics of moist vegetation in the south of the Yangtze River. Gao Xiang is known as “cherishing ink as gold” for his ink method. His works are characterized by simple, thin, elegant and quiet, which is also the reflection of his lofty and aloof character.