Man and nature – pervasive pattern

Mountains, rocks and moral patterns


Stones are a common subject of paintings. While sometimes they are simply the notional subject for ink-play and gestural composition, in other cases records are made of actual rocks, with ink picking out the the key edges of a rock or its disposition seen from a decisive angle.

Attention to key aspects and impressions can be even clearer in woodblock printed books where the image can also be matched to literary description and appreciations. A well-known example is the printed account of his collection by the Ming connoisseur LIN Youlin 林有麟 (1578-1647).
 
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  LIN Youlin 林有麟 (1578-1647)
Su garden rock record 素園石譜 (1613)
Modern reprint