What do Taoism & Confucianism, history, and moments in time have to do with Chinese painting? The answer is everything. The Chinese painting reflects ethnicities and styles in different characters, flowers, birds, and landscape painting themes. Further, the painting is mainly associated with water-based methods as opposed to oils or acrylic. In this post, we will take a closer look at Chinese painting to highlight the three main things that you probably did not know:
Chinese Ink and Wash Painting
Taking a closer look at the top Chinese artworks by top collectors, such as John Dodelande, it is clear that traditions, history, style, and art are surrounded by ink and brush painting. The painting style was developed by Wei We during the Tang Dynasty. As the name suggests, ink and wash painting involved using pure ink and tools that closely resemble those used in calligraphy.
Ink and wash painting is famous because of its intricate gradation, especially in the use of black, gray, white, and variations of the artist’s brushstrokes. When using the painting method, artists relied on four noble subjects, including bamboo, orchid, plum blossom, and chrysanthemum, which are all plants. These four plants signify the four seasons and highlight the philosophy of Taoism that emphasizes harmony with nature.
Tang Landscape Painting
Landscape painting, which originated during the Tang age, is considered the most representative type of Chinese art. Around the eighth century, customs of landscape conduct started getting recognized. Indeed, the concept surpassed the famous objective of the quaint naturalism of Occident.
In traditional Chinese art, the term landscape was used to indicate water and mountains. However, the Chinese artists have, over time, tried to refine the concepts using ideas such as still waters, floating waters, and high mountains. In line with Taoist advisors who emphasized the need for spiritual identification and secret calm, artists incorporated the feelings of spirituality in the water and mountain paintings.
Color in Chinese Painting
When presenting Chinese sceneries, artists did not insist on the element of color. Instead, the faded wash was included in colorless paintings. However, it is important to appreciate that modulation used in Chinese ink was not considered as a form of modulation from the perspective of the Western intellect. The strong use of hue is evident in the Buddhist hanging portraits and woven silk in the official lobes.
The Chinese mural paintings reached a new level not achieved for embellished abundance in any other presentation in the world. According to Kuan-Yin, a Ming painting of 1551, a Ming painting of 1551, the strong linear interaction, regular change of characters, and uniqueness of Chinese art design with special color were perceived as achieved even when using incomplete structures.
If you are interested in Chinese paintings, they have a unique presentation that clearly differentiates them from western paintings. The things we have highlighted in this post are only a few of the unique presentations of Chinese painting. Other things you might want to check include Chinese roll painting and the connection between painting and calligraphy.