Mountain Market, Clearing Mist is a landscape painting by Chinese artist Xia Gui, created in the early thirteenth century during the Southern Song dynasty. It serves as a poetic representation of one of Xiao and Xiang Rivers’ Eight Views, a popular painting subject at the time that is based on eight poems by the Buddhist monk Huihong. Within Xia’s painting, he uses bold brushstrokes and dots of ink to illustrate the landscape, while ink washes are employed to create a sense of depth. At the bottom of the painting, we can find some people and structures, with the market building being nestled between large rock formations. Against the scale of the mountains and the river, human activity is rendered minuscule in comparison. Rising behind the market is a mountain that reaches the top of the painting. Its base, as well as further sceneries, seems to fade out from existence, creating a sense of fogginess for the atmosphere. This painting is an exemplar of Xia Gui’s impressionistic and fragmentary portrayals of landscapes. Xia’s incorporation of blankness resulted in him often being compared to his contemporary, Ma Yuan, with both artists favouring dramatic compositions and empty open spaces to evoke an otherworldly feeling. Together, their works initiated the establishment of the Ma-Xia School of painting, an art movement named after the two landscape masters.
Xia Gui’s Mountain Market, Clearing Mist is a Song masterpiece of atmospheric ink wash painting. Through minimalist, kinesthetic brushstrokes and delicate gradients, he beautifully contrasts bustling human activity with the silent majesty of soaring peaks. The masterful use of empty space evokes a profound, serene sense of mystery and vastness.
