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Lot Essay
Beyond Architectural Painting: An Appreciation of Yuan Yao’s The View of Jiucheng Palace
A native of Yangzhou, Yuan Yao (active 1720-1780) learnt how to paint landscapes with pavilions of architectural finesse from his father (or uncle) Yuan Jiang. The Yuan’s style of architectural paintings was come together through innovation and learning from the ancient Song and Yuan masters, Qiu Ying of the Ming dynasty and Li Yin and Xiao Chen of the Qing period.
In The View of Jiucheng Palace, Yuan employed a composition of one river and three banks to depict a royal garden with pavilions zigzagged along the river banks, and sandwiched by fairy mountains in the background and the foreground. The meticulously painted pavilions and towers are full of minute details: the cloisters and railings, the carved brackets and corners, the beams, eaves and lattices. The vitality of this painting founds in the top left quadrant where passengers of the dragon boats are picking lotus, suggesting it is summer time. Moreover, in the lower left corner servants are carrying gift boxes on a bridge towards the pavilion hidden by the trees and rocks on the right. Two men are chatting outside a red door, possibly waiting for the servants’ arrival. Furthermore, inside of the pavilion people are playing the zither or strolling together, playing chess, admiring lotus or simply watching the waves while enjoying the breeze. In the past studies on Yuan’s paintings focused on their architectural accuracy and precision, yet the figures and stories entailed were neglected.
The splendor and exquisite details of Yuan Yao’s architectural paintings caught the eyes of the Shanxi merchants. They invited the artist to Shanxi where he painted for one of his patrons, the Wei family of Taiyuan, quite a number of outstanding works in different formats, notably the various majestic scrolls of panoramic views. It is possible that The View of Jiucheng Palace was one of them.
A native of Yangzhou, Yuan Yao (active 1720-1780) learnt how to paint landscapes with pavilions of architectural finesse from his father (or uncle) Yuan Jiang. The Yuan’s style of architectural paintings was come together through innovation and learning from the ancient Song and Yuan masters, Qiu Ying of the Ming dynasty and Li Yin and Xiao Chen of the Qing period.
In The View of Jiucheng Palace, Yuan employed a composition of one river and three banks to depict a royal garden with pavilions zigzagged along the river banks, and sandwiched by fairy mountains in the background and the foreground. The meticulously painted pavilions and towers are full of minute details: the cloisters and railings, the carved brackets and corners, the beams, eaves and lattices. The vitality of this painting founds in the top left quadrant where passengers of the dragon boats are picking lotus, suggesting it is summer time. Moreover, in the lower left corner servants are carrying gift boxes on a bridge towards the pavilion hidden by the trees and rocks on the right. Two men are chatting outside a red door, possibly waiting for the servants’ arrival. Furthermore, inside of the pavilion people are playing the zither or strolling together, playing chess, admiring lotus or simply watching the waves while enjoying the breeze. In the past studies on Yuan’s paintings focused on their architectural accuracy and precision, yet the figures and stories entailed were neglected.
The splendor and exquisite details of Yuan Yao’s architectural paintings caught the eyes of the Shanxi merchants. They invited the artist to Shanxi where he painted for one of his patrons, the Wei family of Taiyuan, quite a number of outstanding works in different formats, notably the various majestic scrolls of panoramic views. It is possible that The View of Jiucheng Palace was one of them.