�����CLASS 11 ENGLISH��LANDSCAPE OF THE SOUL� NATHALIE TROUVEROY�
By
Dr. K.SANKAR
PGT English, JNV PUDUCHERY
Introduction
Written by Nathalie Trouveroy, the chapter is about how different the Chinese Art form is, from the European art form. The writer uses two stories to make a contrast. European art is about reproducing an actual view whereas Chinese art is about not creating a real landscape. European art is an artist’s way to let viewers show exactly what he wants them to see in the landscape. Chinese art is the artist’s spiritual and inner voice where you can travel from any point and it lets the viewer create a path for their imagination. (Nathalie Trouveroy is the wife of the Ambassador to Belgium in India and is a postgraduate in the histoty of Art and Archaeology from Belgium)
SHANSHUI PAINTING
The Lesson
WONDERFUL old tale is told about the painter Wu Daozi, who lived in the eighth century. His last painting was a landscape commissioned by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong, to decorate a palace wall. The master had hidden his work behind a screen, so only the Emperor would see it. For a long while, the Emperor admired the wonderful scene, discovering forests, high mountains, waterfalls, clouds floating in an immense sky, men on hilly paths, birds in flight. “Look, Sire”, said the painter, “in this cave, at the foot of the mountain, dwells a spirit.” The painter clapped his hands, and the entrance to the cave opened. “The inside is splendid, beyond anything words can convey. Please let me show Your Majesty the way.” The painter entered the cave; but the entrance closed behind him, and before the astonished Emperor could move or utter a word, the painting had vanished from the wall. Not a trace of Wu Daozi’s brush was left — and the artist was never seen again in this world.
1. Commissioned-to ask an artist to do a piece of work,
2. Dwells – live; stay
3. Splendid – very impressive; superb,
4. Astonished – greatly surprised
5. Vanished- to disappear suddenly.
Such stories played an important part in China’s classical education. The books of Confucius and Zhuangzi are full of them; they helped the master to guide his disciple in the right direction. Beyond the anecdote, they are deeply revealing of the spirit in which art was considered. Contrast this story — or another famous one about a painter who wouldn’t draw the eye of a dragon he had painted, for fear it would fly out of the painting — with an old story from my native Flanders that I find most representative of Western painting.
Disciple – a follower or a pupil of a leader, teacher
Anecdote – a short interesting story of a real person
Flanders – a medieval country in Western Europe
In fifteenth century Antwerp, a master blacksmith called Quinten Metsys fell in love with a painter’s daughter. The father would not accept a son-in-law in such a profession. So Quinten sneaked into the painter’s studio and painted a fly on his latest panel, with such delicate realism that the master tried to swat it away before he realised what had happened. Quinten was immediately admitted as an apprentice into his studio. He married his beloved and went on to become one of the most famous painters of his age. These two stories illustrate what each form of art is trying to achieve: a perfect, illusionistic likeness in Europe, the essence of inner life and spirit in Asia.
Antwerp – a city of northern Belgium
Delicate Realism – the quality of art that makes it seem real
Swat – hit or crush something
Apprentice – trainee; learner
Illusionistic Likeness – an illusion created which resembles something
In the Chinese story, the Emperor commissions a painting and appreciates its outer appearance. But the artist reveals to him the true meaning of his work. The Emperor may rule over the territory he has conquered, but only the artist knows the way within. “Let me show the Way”, the ‘Dao’, a word that means both the path or the method, and the mysterious works of the Universe. The painting is gone, but the artist has reached his goal — beyond any material appearance.
Commissions- Order or authorise
Way within- To go inside to unravel and to findout
Dao- a word that means both the path or the method
A classical Chinese landscape is not meant to reproduce an actual view, as would a Western figurative painting. Whereas the European painter wants you to borrow his eyes and look at a particular landscape exactly as he saw it, from a specific angle, the Chinese painter does not choose a single viewpoint. His landscape is not a ‘real’ one, and you can enter it from any point, then travel in it; the artist creates a path for your eyes to travel up and down, then back again, in a leisurely movement. This is even more true in the case of the horizontal scroll, in which the action of slowly opening one section of the painting, then rolling it up to move on to the other, adds a dimension of time which is unknown in any other form of painting. It also requires the active participation of the viewer, who decides at what pace he will travel through the painting — a participation which is physical as well as mental. The Chinese painter does not want you to borrow his eyes; he wants you to enter his mind.The landscape is an inner one, a spiritual and conceptual space.
Figurative painting – metaphoric representation of an art
Leisurely – unhurried or relaxed
Conceptual Space – relation with an abstract representation
This concept is expressed as Shanshui, literally ‘Mountainwater’ which used together represent the word ‘landscape’. More than two elements of an image, these represent two complementary poles, reflecting the Daoist view of the universe. The mountain is Yang — reaching vertically towards Heaven, stable, warm, and dry in the sun, while the water is Yin — horizontal and resting on the earth, fluid, moist and cool. The interaction of Yin, the receptive, feminine aspect of universal energy, and its counterpart Yang, active and masculine, is of course a fundamental notion of Daoism. What is often overlooked is an essential third element, the Middle Void where their interaction takes place. This can be compared with the yogic practice of pranayama; breathe in, retain, breathe out — the suspension of breath is the Void where meditation occurs. The Middle Void is essential — nothing can happen without it; hence the importance of the white, unpainted space in Chinese landscape.
Daoism – a Chinese philosophy based on the writings of Lao-Tzu
Void – empty; vacant
This is also where Man finds a fundamental role. In that space between Heaven and Earth, he becomes the conduit of communication between both poles of the Universe. His presence is essential, even if it’s only suggested; far from being lost or oppressed by the lofty peaks, he is, in Francois Cheng’s wonderful expression, “the eye of the landscape”.
Conduit – channel; tube
Oppressed – burdened; worried
Lofty – tall or high
Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.
Anecdote-An anecdote refers to a short story used as a reference to explain a meaning of something to make
a point. In the landscape of the soul, the writer used an anecdote when she talked about how an
emperor hired a painter, Wu Daozi to decorate the walls of his palace. The painting vanished at a
point in the story, this story was used as a reference point.
Illusionistic likeness- it refers to the creation of an illusion on part of somebody.
Delicate realism- refers to a certain type of attractiveness present in an art piece. The art is so alluring that
it starts looking real. This was shown when the writer told another story about a
blacksmith falling in love with the painter’s daughter. The blacksmith wanted to marry
the girl so he ended up making a painting more realistic ‘of a fly’ that the father of the
girl thought it was real and tried to swat it. Ironic since he himself is a painter.
Conceptual space -refers to the connection or relationship between facts vs reality
Figurative painting -refers to a metaphorical meaning present in the painting which is a form of art.
Thank you.