Recluse in Mountains

This handscroll opens and closes with fantastic landscape elements: Threatening overhangs and mysterious caverns are shrouded in pockets of heavy mist and eerie lighting. In the middle sections are quieter panoramas of populated riverbanks. It is tempting to read into the landscape a response to the turbulent situation following the fall of Beijing to the Manchu in 1644. While there are no overt images of war, Fan Qi depicted a landscape of seemingly unstable and even chaotic forms.

Fan Qi was active in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, and was painting in the city well before its fall to the Manchu in 1644. A professional artist, Fan based his styles on his understanding of those of the Northern Song dynasty (960–1126). He strove for elegance, and his paintings have a rather dry quality.