Dwelling of the Immortals, c. 1670
Gong Xianexpand_more
Ink on satinexpand_more
Gift of funds from Joan Wurteleexpand_more 98.58
Not on Viewexpand_more
Born in Nanjing, Gong Xian studied painting with Dong Qichang(1555-1636) and literature with the Buddhist monk Juelang Taosheng(1552-1659). Gong maintained loyalty to the fallen Ming dynasty under which he had been born and educated. When Manchus arrested his tutor Juelang in 1647,Gong fled to Hai'an and did not return to Nanjing until 1664. Deeply concerned with artistic legacy and aesthetic concepts, he developed a strongly personal style of form and images created with dark, heavily textured strokes and dots comprising graphically striking abstractions of light and dark.
The inscription reads:
Cloudy mountains soar indistinctly
to the border where heaven begins;
A solitary storied building below,
truly holds the eye.
I once asked where immortals' dwellings were located;
Old ears (Lao Zi) wrote in his book,
Details
- Title
- Dwelling of the Immortals
- Artist Life
- 1619 - 1689
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 98.58
- Curator Approved
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