Nov 26, 2023
Strolling at Night Holding a Candle (aka Waiting for Guests by Lamplight), Ma Lin, ca. 1250
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Strolling at Night Holding a Candle (aka Waiting for Guests by Lamplight), Ma Lin, ca. 1250
Ma Lin (Chinese, 1180-1256)
Pomegranates
MWW Artwork of the Day (11/5/22) Ma Lin (Chinese, 1180–1256) Landscape with Great Pine (c. 1225-35) Album leaf; ink & color on silk, 25.2 x 26 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (A.W. Bahr Collection)
Ma's painting turns away from the realism of earlier Song Imperial Painting Academy works in favor of a new abstraction. In the absence of an accompanying poem, the meaning of this complex scene remains unclear. The Daoist-inspired imagery seems to hold out the promise of transcendence or escape. Outdoor altars are places of worship and meditation, cranes are known as the vehicles and companions of Daoist immortals, the evergreen pine is an emblem of longevity, and the full moon recalls the palace of the moon goddess, Chang E, whose hare prepares the elixir of immortality. Yet the immortals have not come, and the moon is far away. The figure is anchored to this world and can no more reach the moon than can the outstretched branches of the pine. There is a sense of brooding and foreboding in the tortuous, restless form of the tree that may well be influenced by the impending threat of Mongol invasion.
My fear is that in the depth of night,
The flowers will fall asleep and depart. So I light the tall candles,
To illuminate their beauty
Su Shi (1037-1101)
Image: Ma Lin, Waiting for Guests by Lamplight, 1250 Song Dynasty
From Wiki: “Waiting for Guests by Lamplight was painted in the Song Dynasty by Ma Lin, son of famous Chinese painter Ma Yuan. Using shi i (English: poetic ideas), Ma Lin painted the evening scene based upon a poem by Su Shi. In it, a man sits in the door of a pavilion during a full moon. A gentle mood is set by soft, low-lying fog before the mountains and crabapple trees. Leading up to the building is a line of candles specially placed near the blossoming crab apple trees - to "illuminate their beauty".
Layered Icy Silk
Ma Lin (early 13th c.)
Palace Museum, Beijing
Jan-Ove Waldner fishing against Ma Lin in what appears to be an early 2000’s match. Might be interesting to note that both Ma Lin and Waldner were two of the best blockers the world has known; both quite precise and with a deft touch.
Overall they had different styles however, Ma Lin was squarely from the hard-hitting Chinese camp, and Waldner embodied the Euro allround game which had seemed to rule the world from say 1990-2005.
Subsequently the 40mm ball change, speed glue ban, and rise of Butterfly’s Tenergy rubber brought a slow ending to the European allround style, despite its beauty, form, and function.
A collection of 11 high-resolution digital images of Ma Lin/馬麟 ▶️https://boywithflower.gumroad.com/l/lbfxh ▶️https://www.boywithflowers.com/product/ma-lin/ ▶️https://www.patreon.com/posts/79084337 Get more digital paintings. https://boywithflower.gumroad.com/ https://www.boywithflowers.com https://www.patreon.com/boy_with_flowers_art_gallery