Utilizing a technique called "ink play" or "Mi dots" (Mi Dian), Mi Youren adapted the style of his father, which involved blots of wet ink blots, moist brushes, and horizontal strokes to lay out a blurry, yet simplified mountain landscape, which represented the rainy climate of
Henan Province.[1][3][4]
The subsequent techniques of Chinese landscape paintings, would have substantial influence in the
Ming dynasty, as well as
Muromachi Period art in
Japan, including artists like
Sesshū.[3]
Mi Youren, whose grandmother was the
wet nurse of Song Dynasty emperor
Yingzong, was involved in the imperial administrations like his father Mi Fu, who took on the position of military governor in
Wuwei as well as secretary for the
Ministry of Rites.[4] He is likely either of
Xianbei descent, through the
Kumo Xi tribe and/or of
Sogdian descent, as the surname Mi (米) is considered a Sogdian surname.[5][6]
In addition to being a scholar and an artist, Mi Youren authenticated ancient paintings under
Emperor Huizong, and also served as a vice president for the
Ministry of War.[1] He also has combat experience in the
Jin–Song Wars.[2][7]
The Metropolitan Museum Painting
The MET specimen (1973.121.1) is representative of the divergence between the simplified Southern Song style that Mi Fu innovated versus
Northern Song styles, which placed emphasis on detailed landscape.[1] Painted in the 1140s, while under the service of
Emperor Gaozong, the "cloudy mountain" motif became his artistic interpretation of what good governance is. [8]
Subsequent colophons annotating the painting, one piece written by Wang Jie (王介) in 1200 would describe how Mi Youren would produce the paintings for Gaozong, who would then gift it to his courtiers.[1][8]
Provenance
The MET painting enjoyed extensive provenance history, as though the image itself only occupied 57 cm in length, subsequent mountings and annotations extended the scroll to 747.2 cm in length. [1] The painting was passed through the
Qing dynasty emperors up til the end of the dynasty. [1]
Purchased by the MET through the family of C.C. Wang in 1973 [1]
The Cleveland Museum of Art Painting
The Cleveland Painting is one of the Cleveland Museum of Art's oldest dated Chinese painting, acquired in 1933.[2] It depicts the misty riverscape of the
Yangtze Delta. [2] As a result of the turmoil during the Jin-Song war, Mi Youren fled the scene where upon the encounter of the landscape, he painted this piece on September 11, 1130.[2][7] Written on the landscape was:
Fine hills are endless toward the edges of heaven. So are mist and cloud, rain and shine, days and nights. Had I known that you’d be visiting here. I would have left this playful work in your home. In the year of gengxu [1130], [I painted this] while seeking refuge in Xinchang. Yuanhui. [seal] “Yuan hui xi zuo” (Yuanhui playfully made this). [2]
Mi Youren and his family evacuated
Runzhou (潤洲) as the
Jurchens sieged
Kaifeng, to
Jintan (金壇,), and subsequently evacuated to the town of Xinchang (新昌村) as bandits and the Jurchens advanced through
Jiangnan (江南).[7]
Cleveland Museum of Art; J. H. Wade Fund 1933.220 [2]
Subsequently after acquisition at Cleveland, it was on special exhibit in the
Royal Academy of Arts in the 1935-1936 International Exhibition of Chinese Art.[2]
^Sturman, Peter Charles (1997). Mi Fu: style and the art of calligraphy in Northern Song China. New Haven London: Yale University Press.
ISBN978-0-300-06569-5.