Courtesy Name: Wenjin
Pseudonym: Jing An
One of the leaders in early Ming of the revival of Ma-Xia ( an academic style of landscape painting)
Born in Qiantang, otherwise now known as Hangzhou, Zhejiang.
Dai Jin had a well-developed art background as he studied under the local artist of the time. He was greatly admired for his skill and nobility.
He was inspired by the style and representation of the Southern Song style and saw areas for further development. He then proceeded to start the Zhe School in relation to the name of his hometown Zhejiang.
The Zhe school was known for its scholars and professional painters who created based on realism and with less artistic expression. They looked at art through the lenses of scholars who knew how to appreciate art. With the idea of academic qualities and philosophies imbued in their pieces.
The philosophy behind the Ma-Xia style of painting may be what we now understand as Principles of Design which include contrast, balance, emphasis, proportion, hierarchy, repetition, rhythm, pattern, white space, movement, variety, and unity
Boat returning amid wind and rain (Hanging Scroll, inks and colour on silk)
Dai Jin had very good control and depiction of the Southern Style and Ma-Xia style. He has a well-developed control and artistic representation of work and the conveyance of spatial balance and structure. The layout of the painting is well balanced (often a characteristic of Ma-Xia styled paintings) He has created this illusion and feeling of wonder from his addition of the sun rays from the ink wash brush strokes. He defines the values of the paintings clearly from the background, the mountains, to the foreground, the trees. The space he has created as he shapes the sky and the pond. The control of values illustrates the light shining upon the scenery and blocking out the view of the entire mountainous terrain. The value tonal change creates the illusion as if the light was truly blocking your point of view. For this, his skills were understandably admirable.
This painting depicts probably an evening day in spring or summer. A man and what looks like his son on a boat as they return from their journey. Two men return through the bridge as they share an umbrella. A servant returning from his journey of errands. The calmness and almost creation of the ambience with the elements showcase his skill.
This is one of my favourite works of Dai Jin and may I say painting done in the Southern Song styles because it truly illustrated this poetic and artistic wonder. His skill captures the beauty and transience being of the scenery. The ability and idea to have incorporated the ray of sunlight in the work made the painting a beautiful and emotional one.
Ploughing in Spring (Hanging Scroll, ink and colour on silk)
As an evolution of Chinese painting culture, Dai Jin was one of the few that painted and illustrated the life of commoners and their lifestyles. He illustrates farmers ploughing through the fields with their cows along the rivers. This depiction of scenery creates a much technique showcase and realistic perspective approach. His attention to the details in the trees and mountainous terrain. As well as the flow of movement in the river downstream to depict movement attributed to his control of the Southern Style like the artistic expression of ‘capturing the moment’.
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