Ma Yuan, Album leaf, A Mountain Path in Spring, c. 1190, silk painted page, 10.8
The Chinese court painter Ma Yuan explored the relationship between landscape painting and poetry. A Mountain Path in Spring depicts a scholar communing with nature. He stops for a moment to feel the breeze and watch a bird as it takes flight. He twists his beard as he looks toward the void and the poem by Emperor Ningzong that appears in the right corner and reads, “The wild flowers dance when brushed by my sleeves. Reclusive birds make no sound as they shun the presence of people.”
