Snowy Ravines and Mountains: Landscape Painting after Li Cheng 1688

Editor: This scroll, "Snowy Ravines and Mountains: Landscape Painting after Li Cheng" by Huang Ding, dating to the 17th or 18th century, is so evocative! What strikes me most is the way the bare trees reach up against the snow-laden mountains. What do you see in this painting? Curator: Notice how the blank spaces, the negative space, define the shapes? The snow isn't painted so much as implied, creating a cultural memory of winter landscapes, of starkness and potential. The image also carries the weight of tradition through Li Cheng. What feelings do these visual symbols evoke for you? Editor: A sense of quiet contemplation and resilience, a world covered but not defeated by winter. Thanks! Curator: Indeed. The endurance of nature, rendered through symbols passed down through generations, is powerful.