The “Masterpieces of Chinese Painting” exhibit at V&A in London shows the fruits of Chinese artists’ labors, some of them created centuries before the “first” western landscape painting, created in 1473.
The Chinese pioneered landscape painting as a fine art form, using sweeping lines and dreamy colors to meditate on the world that surrounded them. In fact, the artists used such painting practices as a form of Buddhism, finding peace and harmony on the outside to reflect the peace and harmony they cultivated within. Even looking at such paintings is supposed to inspire inner meditation.
Da Vinci’s landscape painting is one of several from western artists that “appear” to be Chinese in technique and subject matter, the curator of the V&A exhibit agrees. Whether da Vinci “stole” the look from paintings he might have seen from the Silk Road is another matter entirely.
Today, many people paint outdoors with watercolors, using the artistic time to relax and appreciate the sights around them. This reflects on the Chinese practice of landscape painting, still beautiful and impressive to audiences today.
Sign up today for a class on watercolor painting to help you find inner peace. Even if you’ve never painted before, watercolor painting is an excellent way to discover and develop an artistic knack you never knew you had.