East Asian Ink-and-Wash Painting

About

Ink-and-wash painting works mostly or entirely in black ink, diluted with water to give a range from glossy black to the faintest grey, brushed onto absorbent paper or silk. Brushwork is judged as in calligraphy: by speed, pressure, and the contrast between wet washes and dry, broken strokes.

Northern Song painters such as Fan Kuan and Xu Daoning built towering landscapes in the 11th century, while Chan monks like Muqi painted with startling economy, as in Six Persimmons (13th century). Sesshū Tōyō studied in China and returned to Japan to paint crisp, angular landscapes in the late 15th century, and Hasegawa Tōhaku dissolved a grove into mist in his Pine Trees screens (1590s). Korea's Jeong Seon painted actual Korean mountains rather than idealised Chinese ones. Bada Shanren reduced birds and fish to a few wry strokes, and Qi Baishi carried the practice into the 20th century.