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Wangchuan Villa

Wang Yuanqi Chinese
dated 1711
Not on view
The elegant Wangchuan Villa situated in the picturesque hills on the outskirts of the Tang dynasty (618–907) capital, Chang'an (modern Xi'an), is one of the most famous gardens of ancient China. The rambling estate with spectacular scenery was the retreat of the poet, musician, and landscape painter Wang Wei (699–759). Almost one thousand years later, Wang Yuanqi used a rubbing of a Wangchuan composition etched into stone in 1617 for the general outlines of his painting and referred to Wang Wei's poems to guide his inspiration. In a colophon appended to the painting, Wang Yuanqi expresses satisfaction that he has captured some of Wang Wei's idea of "painting in poetry and poetry in painting."

Tutored in painting by his grandfather Wang Shimin (1592–1680), Wang Yuanqi followed the lead of Dong Qichang (1555–1636), the first artist to transform landscape structure in painting by means of abstract compositional movements known as "breath force" (qishi). Inspired by the archaic convention of ringed mountain motifs in the engraving, Wang Yuanqi created "dragon veins" (longmo), through which the cosmic "breath force" vigorously flows. Calligraphic brush formulas suddenly become torrents of writhing, churning rock forms, rising and falling like waves.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 清　王原祁　輞川圖　卷
  • Title: Wangchuan Villa
  • Artist: Wang Yuanqi (Chinese, 1642–1715)
  • Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
  • Date: dated 1711
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Handscroll; ink and color on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 14 in. x 17 ft. 10 3/4 in. (35.6 x 545.5 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 14 3/8 in. x 34 ft. 7 1/2 in. (36.5 x 1055.4 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Ex coll.: C. C. Wang Family, Purchase, Douglas Dillon Gift, 1977
  • Object Number: 1977.80
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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7605. Wangchuan Villa

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Streams and Mountains without End
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Landscape in the Styles of Huang Gongwang and Gao Kegong, Wang Yuanqi Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, China
Landscape in the Styles of Huang Gongwang and Gao Kegong
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dated 1705
Landscape for Zhanting, Wang Yuanqi Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, China
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