Scholar Walking Beneath Bare Trees

A lone figure in scholar’s robes pauses in a spare landscape, the surrounding mist suggestive of early morning. At first glance, the trees seem entirely barren and the setting desolate, but a closer look transforms the scene into one more hopeful. Tiny plum blossoms, signs of imminent spring, appear on the tips of the braches, and the scholar holds a blossoming sprig to his face to see or smell the buds more closely.

The style of this landscape is characteristic of the Zhe School (Zhèpài 浙派), active in the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Although not a formal school, these painters worked to revive the earlier landscape style of court painters of the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). Elements the later painters borrowed that can be seen here include the asymmetrical composition, the use of atmospheric perspective to create a sense of deep distance, and calligraphic brushwork that combines tightly controlled lines, as seen in the scholar, and freer brush strokes that texture the rocks and tree.