Traveling Along Valleys and Peaks

An unknown artist painted this work in the manner of the Northern Song painters, whose monumental landscape styles inspired later generations of artists. Towering peaks are erected in clouds in a vertical composition, where the natural world is shown in all its splendor. The suggestion of perspectival depth and the inclusion of small figures of travelers reinforces the grand appearance of the mountains. Yet the carefully executed brushwork and the close-up perspective over water also suggests the influence of Southern Song court painters who excelled in representing different textures and foliage in a close view. This painting was probably painted in the thirteenth century, when the Jurchen people conquered the Northern Song regime and ruled northern China, with the Chinese ruling houses moving to the south to establish the Southern Song court.

Video: The Elusive Nature of Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) Painting (Part 1 of 2): http://youtu.be//u3l0gBgBED4
Video: The Elusive Nature of Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) Painting (Part 2 of 2): http://youtu.be/e0r-EOB3nMw

Stephen Little of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) disucsses the painting, "Travelers Among Valleys and Peaks," considered an iconic masterwork in the Asian Art Museum's collection. A lecture presented by the Society for Asian Art on February 27, 2015.