Reminiscences of Nanjing: Autumn Meditation

The son of a prince in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Shitao was an infant when his parents were murdered at the fall of the dynasty. His identity concealed, he was raised in a Buddhist monastery and became a reclusive monk. In the 1680s he lived in Nanjing, serving as monk-in-charge of a Buddhist temple. Ultimately, his success as a painter widened his social circle, which helped sustain him psychologically. Shitao's painting is noted for its innovative simplicity and bold vigor. This image belongs to Reminiscences of Nanjing, the album that he painted in the last year of his life. Unlike many acclaimed Chinese artists of his generation, Shitao avoided conscious imitation of earlier masters' styles. While many of his paintings are relatively unorthodox (see the other leaf from this album), Autumn Meditation is fairly traditional. In his old age, Shitao came full circle artistically and was comfortable working in both extraordinary and more customary manners. His brushwork, however, was consistently imbued with exceptional strength and vitality, which is evident here in the solid, three-dimensional form of the little skiff that Shitao painted with a single stroke.