Mist above River Gorges

During the early 1960s, members of the Jiangsu Painting Academy made extensive expeditions to six provinces to sketch and paint from nature. These painting expeditions had remarkable effects on Chinese artists of this era. A member of the academy since 1957, Song was greatly inspired by the landscapes he saw on these journeys, and his paintings became freer and more spontaneous as a result of his travels. His landscapes capture the remarkable beauty and atmosphere of the Jiangnan area, particularly scenes along the Yangzi River. Song is especially skillful in applying strokes and washes to create texture. This painting is a dramatic rendition of a river gorge with mist and clouds hovering above in the early morning. The inscription reads: Morning clouds over the Jialing River. In the summer of 1979 Song Wenzhi painted this at Jingling (Nanjing) at the age of sixty.