Landscape After Mi Fu

In the foreground, a small, rural residence is nestled in a grove of colorful trees. A boat sits at the riverbank, waiting for us to board and sail off into the distance toward the mountains emerging from the mist. The choice of blue and blue-green colors for the mountains and foliage is symbolic, traditionally suggesting a utopia or faraway paradise. For Liú, living through a time of great personal hardship, this world may have represented a momentary escape.

The title references the Song dynasty artist Mǐ Fú 米芾 / 米黻 (1051—1107 CE). A court official, renowned calligrapher, and collector of unusual rocks, Mǐ was also celebrated for a particular style of misty landscape painting, creating mountain forms with repeated, oblong brushstrokes known as "Mǐ dots" (Mǐ diǎn 米點), seen here in the mountains at the top. Liú’s reference to Mǐ, and self-deprecating admiration in his inscription, was a bold statement at a time when traditional, elite culture was being attacked.

INSCRIPTION: LANDSCAPE AFTER MǏ FÚ 風雨前村過，溪山變渺茫 荒䝉留静寺，笑倒米襄陽 昆陵劉海粟畫并題 壬子中秋時年七十七

"Wind and rain pass by the village in the foreground, the view of streams and mountains has turned hazy. Only a serene temple is left visible from the drizzling rain, This painting is an embarrassment in front of Mi Xiāngyáng [Mǐ Fú]

Painted and inscribed by Liú Hǎisù of Kunling Mid-autumn of the year of Renzi (1972), at the age of 77"

Translated by Milin Zhou (OC 2019)