Landschap 1850 - 1900

Curator: What strikes me first about this landscape is the palpable sense of serenity, a hushed tranquility emanating from the artist’s simple ink strokes. Editor: Indeed, the use of ink washes and stark lines gives the scene a wonderfully uncluttered aesthetic. This piece is attributed to Cheng Men, dating from 1850 to 1900, created with ink on paper, titled “Landschap”. Curator: "Landschap," or landscape in Dutch. Which is a curious name to ascribe to what looks clearly like a Chinese or wider East-Asian landscape. It's interesting how that translation could influence its perception through the art market— perhaps granting this painting different cultural associations for different audiences through colonial era trade? Editor: Precisely, and thinking about the form here, note the boat gliding along the river, barely there! It hints at figures taking their time; which contrasts to our hyper-productive society that rarely gives people a chance to find leisure time! Curator: Well, in art historical circles we often place value on a certain “effortlessness” with these kinds of East-Asian brush paintings. This pursuit of simple lines often involves long periods of meditative focus that in its own way could be argued to be just as, or even more labor intensive. Editor: Oh, for sure! It’s a visual reminder to find that inner stillness. That the landscape provides! The blurred boundaries, and suggestive details give it such an alluring, dreamlike, quality. I love how much feeling can be conjured out of so little. Curator: The interplay between representation and abstraction—essential viewing to consider ideas about cross cultural perspectives. What have we learned here today about cultural influences on a viewer? Editor: Definitely, thinking about this “Landschap” through different lenses, makes it all the more alive, it becomes so much more than an artifact and moves closer towards an exercise in shared humanity.