Artistic Thoughts and Conceptual Innovations in Dong Qichang's Antiquarian Landscape Painting

Abstract

Dong Qichang (1555-1636) was a famous calligrapher and art theorist in the Ming Dynasty. He had a profound influence on the creation of landscape painting, especially in the art practice of imitating ancient landscape painting. He created the artistic style of "retro innovation" through clever techniques and innovative artistic concepts, which not only inherited the traditional painting art, but also showed distinctive personal characteristics. This paper aims to explore the artistic thought and concept innovation in Dong Qichang's antique landscape painting, and reveal the profound philosophical connotation and artistic concept behind his works. Dong Qichang in his ancient landscape painting, based on the Song and Yuan Dynasty painting art, in-depth study of the style of ancient masters, the integration of personal unique understanding of nature, history, philosophy, and strive to innovate in the retro. Dong Qichang's artistic creation is not only the imitation of the ancient style, but through the deep understanding and reflection of the tradition, combined with the social and cultural background at that time, put forward an artistic concept of "taking the ancient as a mirror and making innovation". His ancient landscape paintings draw on the idea of "literati painting" of the Song Dynasty, especially inheriting and developing the painting style of Yuan masters such as Ni Zan and Huang Gongwang in terms of brush and ink, composition and spirit, but through the innovation of his own style, his works show a new artistic appearance. This paper first analyzes Dong Qichang's artistic thought background and theoretical system, and probes into his deep understanding of artistic creation under the theoretical framework of "ancient painting", especially his innovation in the expression technique and ideological content of painting. Secondly, this paper deeply analyzes Dong Qichang's technique and style of imitating ancient landscape painting, and discusses how he constructs a new art world through the expression of natural landscape, the reproduction of history and culture, and the expression of philosophical thoughts. Finally, this paper will also reflect on the relationship between Dong Qichang's artistic thought of imitating ancient landscape painting and modern art, and clarify the historical significance and contemporary value of his artistic innovation. Dong Qichang's artistic thought in imitating ancient landscape painting is not only the inheritance of traditional Chinese landscape painting, but also the reflection and transcendence of "ancient" at the intersection of history, philosophy and art. Through the innovative combination of "ancient" and "present", his works broke through the limitations of traditional landscape painting both in technique and artistic concept, and provided new ideological inspiration for the artistic creation of later generations. The study of this paper not only provides a new academic perspective for Dong Qichang's artistic achievements, but also provides a valuable theoretical basis for us to understand the trend of "retro innovation" in ancient Chinese art.