Talia Coker: A Visual Analysis of the continuous Landscape
Talia Coker: A Visual Analysis of the continuous Landscape
The QingMing Shanghe Tu or “Spring Festival on the River” is a scroll made up of many components that really help the viewer understand the overall composition. Along with the many different figures and animals portrayed, the landscape created throughout is also just as intricate and helps connect each of the sections together. The landscape portrays many themes throughout like spiritual resonance, balance, the journey from right to left and space and depth. Although the scroll is supposed to be looked at in separate parts, the overall landscape is a way to help viewers understand the story from right to left. The landscape takes the viewers through the journey of the scroll.
Besides just the beauty of nature, the spiritual connection between humans and nature are very important as well. The artists are very skilled at creating this overall visual beauty like different types of trees, plants, gardens, mountainous areas, paths, water etc. But, the artists also create a deeper meaning and feeling of the story by giving the idea of spiritual resonance. “One must not merely attempt to paint in accord with particular rules of the style, but one must allow oneself to be a part of nature itself in order to bring out the appropriate representation of nature”(Turner., 2009,p.111). Throughout the QingMing Shanghe Tu you can see such specificity like the texture on the tree trunks, the different colors and shades throughout the plants, ruffles on the water and even specific branches that allows the viewers to feel like they could actually be there. Towards the end of the scroll there are light pink colored blossoms and light blue/green plant life along the river. The colors of the trees and the amount of plant life gives viewers an indication it might be spring. The light ruffles throughout the water and the slants of some of the plants at the end of the scroll can represent wind in the landscape. The amount of detail and naturalism done throughout the landscape really brings this piece to life.
Balance is also portrayed in many different areas of the scroll. The overall composition of land and the water balance eachother out. For example, towards the middle of the scroll where the activity gets the most compacted and busy. The chaos within the middle ground on the land is balanced out by the quiet and emptiness of the river. The extreme detail and texture within the landscape and the land is balanced by the light brushstrokes to create the water. The scroll is laid out in a horizontal format. The composition of the landscape creates depth and space which allows viewers to visualize the landscape vertically. The horizontal scroll and the vertical depth of the landscape is another form of balance. Like the figures are brought to life and doing actions, the landscape also is alive and is in movement with the figures.
The landscape is a way to help guide the viewers through the journey of the scroll. The continuous water flowing throughout grabs the viewer from the beginning of the scroll to the end. In the very beginning of the scroll which is all the way to the right, the story opens up to a big pool of water that then gets narrow as the story continues. Throughout the middle of the scroll the river or stream looks like an “S” shape bringing the eyes of the viewers around the scenes and then ends with the stream getting larger and becoming a big pool of water like the beginning of the scroll. A road or path is also depicted next to the river in the beginning that is continuous through the scroll. “It is the road that carries one all the way through; in this case, a country road which soon joins the river and increases in importance until the climax of road and river is reached at the bridge, which is the busiest of market places” (Priest.,1948,p.286-287). The land and the water in this scroll guides the eye to the active parts where the figures are portrayed doing their daily tasks.
Along with the river and the land of the scroll, trees play a role as well. The trees act as borders following the water as well as creating distance and space throughout the piece. Trees are seen in the foreground, middleground and the background. By doing this, the artists create different perspectives for each section of the scroll. “It is not a panorama, a bird’s eye view; it is a kind of moving picture at which the spectator does the moving and has the advantage of being able to turn forward or back” (Priest.,1948, p.286). The overall composition of the scroll looks like one big picture of a day during this time but, if we actually look at different sections we can see how perspective is differentiating different scenes. Although this is a horizontal scroll, the space and depth of the landscape created has given the scroll a vertical feel. The combination of having a foreground, middle ground and background help with the verticality.
The QingMing Shanghe Tu is a very intriguing piece that is very intricate and detailed. Not only are the figures portraying life and meaning in this scroll but so is the landscape. The landscape acts as a way to balance out the active figures and animals. Just like the figures are depicted in action or daily tasks, the landscape is also active and brought to life. The beginning of the scroll starts and ends with nature. The day starts off quiet with nature then the activity of the figures has a climax in the middle of the scroll which then ends with again the quiet mood of nature. Overall, the landscape is a way to help guide viewers through the scroll and get a sense of how a day starts and ends.
References
Priest, Alan. “Spring Festival on the River.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 6, no. 10 (1948): 280–92. https://doi.org/10.2307/3258128.
Turner, Matthew. “Classical Chinese Landscape Painting and the Aesthetic Appreciation of Nature.” The Journal of Aesthetic Education 43, no. 1 (2009): 106–21. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40263708.