“Far from the dust” in Shitao’s Arts of Painting: Solitude in Chinese art
Abstract
“Far from the dust” is an important concept in Shitao’s pictorial system, crystallizing his profound reflection about the relation between art, the individual, society, and nature. This article aims to analyze the rich semantics of this concept. This study will reveal that the assertion of “Far from the dust” does not imply a segregation of the individual from mundane society, nor an evasion of the dirtiness of earthly life. This pictorial concept is framed within the philosophy of solitude in Chinese art. Through non-attachment to impurity and purity, a state of serene and contemplative observation of the essence of art is achieved, surpassing temporal and spatial limitations, until the dichotomy between subject and object dissolves. This triadic semantics intertwines into a chain of meanings connoting the supreme ideal of landscape painting, which is the Tao.
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