The Works of Art of Asia

As its appreciation invites others to marvel at the artist's distinctive point of view, art transcends cultural, political, and social barriers. There are various forms of artistic expression, and each one has characteristics that relate more to its genesis. Asian artworks are particularly valued around the world because they show unique styles and techniques that differ from what may be considered "typical" works of art. Furthermore, Asian art, and particularly Chinese art, is where the oldest pieces of artwork in the world may be found. Therefore, it came as no surprise that after perusing the various works of art in the British Museum; I was particularly drawn to a predominant format of Chinese painting known as the handscroll. The painting that caught my eye was landscape painting by Zhu Xiuli, c.1985-89. This paper seeks to expound on handscroll painting with Zhu Xiuli landscape painting as the basis.

Handscroll painting can be defined as a roll of continuous silk or paper varying in length that has an image painted upon, and it remains rolled up when it is not on view. This is due to the ink and color being of a delicate nature, and would fade if left exposed to light for a long time. In fact the value of the scroll is based to a certain degree on its packaging. The beauty of scrolls in storage is that the immediate view is barred by several layers of the painting wrapped up in a silken cord, ivory tangle or jade. The process of viewing the painting involves undoing the cord and then proceeding to unroll the scroll from left to right with a pause to admire all the different aspects of it as every section has a detailed and unique view that unravels the whole painting. The definition of the whole experience is like a revelation, that each section presents a new surprise and one has no idea of what is coming next. The curator further described the experience as that even after viewing the painting, a look at it again was like visiting an old friend neglected for a time but their general appearance, outlines were remembered clearly but not the details. The unrolling of the scroll entailed great pleasure that one had not noticed before or had forgotten just like an old friend. Further, what was enticing is that the viewing of a handscroll is an intimate experience as its format and size is not meant for a large audience unlike western paintings and can be best described as a book. This means that; just as one does not know what to encounter in the next page of a book, the same applies for the handscroll painting.
Chinese painting formats depict an intimacy between word and image, and therefore it is no coincidence that the handscroll format does as well. Chinese painting styles traditionally place landscape painting at the top of the hierarchy being associated with refined scholarly taste and its high popularity. The paintings of landscapes by Chinese artists are mostly idealized landscapes and not real places. This is mainly due to the fact that mountains reach up to the heavens, association that is linked to religion in China. Subsequently, the people's belief is that by looking at paintings of mountains they affirm their religious belief and in turn it is good for the soul. In the handscroll illustrated above, the traditional landscape is transformed by Zhu Xiuli's interpretation of tradition with a twentieth-century version.
My interpretation of Zhu Xiuli landscape painting is that the various elements within the art piece are controlled and organized with a characteristic movement of the lines of trees flowing through the scroll. His application of color washes is accomplished with a panting that can be described as fresh. The colors of the painting can be termed as subtle and restrained and depict a small amount of watercolor while mainly based on ink. This painting is able to combine uniquely and marvelously the serenity of mood, the grandeur of conception, a human dimension in the delicate details of village life, and sensitivity in the handling of distance through subtle grades of ink tone. Zhu Xiuli brush style on appearance can be termed as slapdash and careless but just like his spiritual ancestors, it is incredibly sure and confident. His landscapes being executed in dashing shorthand depict a creative distortion of the Southern tradition. The mountains are illustrated as simple triangles and the ridges are painted with short brush strokes to create texture. The painting best depicts the tension between the new and old ideas, foreign and native styles that are shaping modern arts of China. The millennia of human occupation have transformed the Chinese landscape, but the Chinese artistic expression has largely remained unchanged and instead focuses on the traditional imprint of images of the natural world. The expression of landscapes, besides religious affiliations has remained at the heart of artists as an embodiment of culture and a cultivation of the works of their masters.
The curator pointed out that indeed China is a culture of old civilization (5,000 years old), which is proved by the history of Chinese scroll paintings with a further basis on Chinese paintings that are termed as the oldest artistic tradition. The most interesting part is that painters in China were traditionally scholars. The painters, in their execution of art used four basic pieces of equipment known as the Four Treasures of the Scholar's Studio which are;: ink stone, brush, ink, and paper. The surface of the ink stone was used as a grinding base for the ink cake while water through a water dropper is gradually instilled and left to gather as a well at one end of the stone. The water in the ink, together with the nature of dryness or wetness of the brush then determines the depth of intensity of the brush strokes. The composition of ink cakes was a mixture of glue, oil, and carbonized pinewood which was then molded into the end mixture. On the other hand, brushes were made from animal fur, mostly goat, wolf, hare, or deer.
The earliest landscapes in China were illustrated in three-dimensional forms. However, the aftermath of the Han Dynasty saw Buddhism spread across China and artists in turn began to create paradise paintings to depict Buddha life stories on earth. In fact, the background of such paintings shows examples of early landscape painting and that is how ultimately landscape painting was born and grew to become one of the most revered types of paintings.