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Lot Essay
In The Chronology of Shitao's Life, it is recorded that the painter stayed in Beijing in the thirty-first year of the Kangxi era (1692). He painted for Mr Gongbei one day in spring. In March, he painted this lot for Mr Bochang at the Haichao temple. He inscribed on the painting, "Nowadays, painters follow the footprints rather than the spirit of the ancients, which means that future generations can never surpass the old masters. It is really sad."
Shitao argued that even if the old masters had wanted to follow their predecessors' steps in painting, just as is being done by the current generation, they would not find any, as they were the pioneers. He exhorted his contemporaries to develop their own distinctive styles by breaking entrenched aesthetic conventions. Following his guidelines, one cannot apply traditional ways of thinking when interpreting Shitao's paintings. This landscape is filled with rocks, hills and waterfalls in strange shapes and compositions. It is apparent that the painter wanted viewers to appreciate his work from an unorthodox angles.
In the autumn of 1692, Shitao ended his four-year stay in Beijing and returned to the south. In the capital he discovered that the nobility and those in power treated Buddhism and art very differently from what he had expected. Disappointed and apprehensive about his prospects, the artist used the painting, finished before leaving Beijing, as a conduit to vent these sentiments: Doesn't that lonely person on the boat, confronted with a wall of ragged, strange rocks, seem to reflect the quandary the painter was in?
Shitao argued that even if the old masters had wanted to follow their predecessors' steps in painting, just as is being done by the current generation, they would not find any, as they were the pioneers. He exhorted his contemporaries to develop their own distinctive styles by breaking entrenched aesthetic conventions. Following his guidelines, one cannot apply traditional ways of thinking when interpreting Shitao's paintings. This landscape is filled with rocks, hills and waterfalls in strange shapes and compositions. It is apparent that the painter wanted viewers to appreciate his work from an unorthodox angles.
In the autumn of 1692, Shitao ended his four-year stay in Beijing and returned to the south. In the capital he discovered that the nobility and those in power treated Buddhism and art very differently from what he had expected. Disappointed and apprehensive about his prospects, the artist used the painting, finished before leaving Beijing, as a conduit to vent these sentiments: Doesn't that lonely person on the boat, confronted with a wall of ragged, strange rocks, seem to reflect the quandary the painter was in?