Ma Yuan
(1155 - 1235) |
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Part of the Ma Family court painters Art Work
| Name: |
Ma Yuan |
| Gender: |
Unknown |
| Place of Birth: |
Hangzhou, China |
| Nationality: |
Chinese |
| Birth: |
1155 |
| Death: |
1235 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Part of the Ma Family court painters |
| Medium: |
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| Method: |
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| Style: |
Ma-Xia School |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| The Ma family of court painters, of whom Ma Yuan is now the best known, were originally from the Shanxi province. They learned their craft from the monumental Northern School landscape tradition. The family's life and artistic style changed when the leaders of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) were challenged by the Jurchen tribes of Manchuria and forced to flee south of the Yangtze River. The whole Imperial Court, including the Ma family, followed their rulers to the south.The new region, of low-lying hills, pretty lakes, and lush greenery surrounding Hangzhou, demanded a different approach from the style of painting they had employed until now, and in Ma Yuan's mature work there is a synthesis of traditional styles that represents, with his contemporary Xia Gui, the apex of the golden age of Chinese landscape painting. Yuan was nicknamed "One-Corner Ma" for his distinctive compositions, which organized their content around an axis from one corner and left large areas of empty space in the rest of the frame. Working in strong angular brushstrokes, soft color washes, and with a sure economy of detail, he created images of great subtlety and intimacy, all traits typical of the Southern School, bold evocations of limitless space, which retain the sense of Taoist mystery found in the works of the Northern School painters. ' Yuan was not a member of the intellectual literati class, and his work later drew criticism for being overly romantic and pandering to courtly decadence, but his example, and that of his son Ma Lin, was to prove enduringly popular. The Ma-Xia School was revived during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and was emulated by the Kano school of Japanese painters; in the West, Yuan is among the most famous of traditional Chinese painters. |
Samples of Work
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