Landscape of a soul: chapter Summary
Answers
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Summary of Landscape of the Soul
Chapter ‘Landscape of the Soul’ by Nathalie Trouveroy is about art. The chapter consists of two parts.
The first part has been taken from ‘Landscape of the Soul: Ethics and Spirituality in Chinese Painting’; and
the second part is from ‘Getting Inside ‘Outsider Art’ an article written by Brinda Suri in Hindustan Times.
The first part deals with the art of painting.
There is mention of two stories in it. The first story is about Wu Daozi, a
famous Chinese painter, who lived in the eighth century. He was a master
painter and had been commissioned by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong, to decorate a
palace wall. He made a beautiful painting with high mountains, forests waterfalls, clouds floating in clear,
big blue sky, men walking and working on hilly paths, birds in flight, and a cave
situated at the foot of the mountain, where dwelt a spirit. As the painter was
showing the painting to the emperor, he clapped hands; the entrance to the cave
opened, the painter got in; the painting vanished and Wu Daozi never came out.
The disappearance of the painting from
the wall signifies the knowledge of the spiritual inner world. Only the masters
know the way within and can go beyond any material appearance.
In another famous story, a famous
Chinese painter refused to draw the eye of a dragon he had painted for he
feared it would fly out of the painting.
The third story in the first part is
about Antwerp, a master blacksmith called Quinten Metsys fell in love with a
painter’s daughter. The father would not accept a son-in-law in such a
profession. However, Antwerp had to accept Quinten Metsys as his son in law
because he painted a fly on his panel with such delicate realism that it looked
real one.
The author also talks about Chinese
philosophy shanshui, which means ‘mountain
water’. The mountain represents ‘Yang’, the male principle; and water signifies
Yin, the female principle.
In the second part the author writes about the concept of ‘art brut’, which means ‘the art of those who have ‘no right’ to be artists as they have received no formal training, yet show talent and artistic insight. They are artists who think out of the box. Their works are totally different from those of their predecessors. In simple terminology this art can be called ‘unorthodox art.’ In this section the author talks about Nek Chand’s creations. His creation of Rock Garden at Chandigarh is an expression of art brut.
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Explanation:
In this chapter, the writer contrasts two forms of art – Chinese art and European art by using two different stories. In China during the eighth century, the Tang emperor Xuanzong commissioned a painter Wu Daozi to decorate a wall in the palace. Upon seeing the wall painting, the Emperor started noticing the outer appearance of the painting but the painter drew his attention to a cave at the foot of the mountain. The painter told the Emperor that he would take him inside. The painter entered the cave and the entrance closed behind him. As soon as the painter clapped his hand, the painting on the wall was gone and so was the painter.
In another story, a painter wouldn’t draw an eye of a dragon as he feared that the dragon would fly out of the painting. In another story to represent a European art form, a master Blacksmith falls in love with a painter’s daughter. The father didn’t approve of him because of his profession. The blacksmith sneaked into his painting studio and painted a fly on the painter’s latest panel. The fly seemed so real that the painter tried to hit it first before realizing it was in the painting. The painter accepted him as a trainee in his studio. The blacksmith married the painter’s daughter and later became one of the famous painters of his time.
These stories revealed as to how art form is believed to be followed in two different regions in the world. In Europe, an artist wants the viewer to see a real viewpoint by borrowing his eyes. The art must be perfect and must be illusion likeness. Whereas, in China, the artist doesn’t paint a real one but uses his inner and spiritual voice to create an abstract piece. The viewer can enter the painting from any point and can travel according to his own imagination. The artist wants the viewer to enter his mind and create a path of its own.
This concept is called ‘Shanshui’ which means ‘mountain water’. When they are used together, they make the word ‘landscape’.