Ch.4 Landscape of the Soul, 11th-Eng

 

4. Landscape of the Soul (Nathalie Trouveroy)

Main points of the Chapter:

 

·   In this chapter contains two essays written by two different writers on the topic of art.

·    In the first piece, Nathalie Trouveroy praises the Chinese art.

·    He compares the European art with the Asian art.

·    In Europe, the art aims at giving a perfect illusionistic likeness.

·    In Asia the art presents the inner life and spirit.

·    The second part of this chapter deals with the outsider art.

·    In the first part of the chapter, the writer tells an old tale about an eighth century painter, Wu Daozi.

·    He made last painting, as Chinese Tang Emperor Xuanzong wanted a landscape to decorate a wall in his palace.

·    He made a beautiful painting to decorate the palace wall.

·    It had forest, high mountains, waterfalls, clouds floating in the sky men on hilly paths and birds in flight.

·    The painter showed the Emperor a cave at the foot of the mountain in the painting.

·    The painter clapped his hands and the mouth of the cave opened.

·    As soon as the painter went inside, the entrance closed behind him.

·    The painting also vanished from the wall.

·    The story teaches us a lesson that an Emperor may rule the world but only the artist knows the inner world.

·    That is why the painter was able to enter the cave, but not the Emperor.

·    The writer tells another story. In 15^th century Antwerp, there was a blacksmith, Quinten Metsys.

·    He fell in love with the daughter of a famous painter. But painter did not want to accept a blacksmith as his son-in-law.

·    One day, Quinten made a fly which looked so real, when painter came, he tried to swat it.

·    When he came to know of the truth, he admitted Quinten as his apprentice as well as his son-in-law.

·    The second part of the chapter is written by Brinda Suri.

·    It is about the ‘Outsider Art’ and ‘Art Brut’ or ‘Raw Art’

·    The art by those who have no formal training in art. Yet they show their talent.

·    The notion of ‘art brut’ or ‘raw art’ was mooted by French painter Jean Dubuffet.

·    The best example of ‘outsider art’ is the rock garden created by Nek Chand in Chandigarh.

 

4. Landscape of the Soul (Nathalie Trouveroy)

Very Short Type Q-Ans.

 

1. Who is the writer of ‘Landscape of the Soul’?

Ans. Nathalie Trouveroy

 

2. In which century did Wu Daozi live?

Ans. In 8^th century

 

3. What was his last painting?

Ans. A landscape

 

4. Why had the Emperor commissioned Wu Daozi’s painting?

Ans. To decorate a palace wall

 

5. Who lived in the cave, according to the artist?

Ans. A spirit

 

6. What happened when he clapped his hands?

Ans. The door to the cave opened

 

7. What happened to the painting after the artist entered the cave?

Ans. Its entrance closed

 

8. What was the name of the blacksmith?

Ans. Quinten Metsys

 

9. With whom did the blacksmith fall in love?

Ans. With a painter’s daughter

 

10. What did Quinten pain on the wheel?

Ans. A fly      

 

11. What does the word ‘Dao’ mean?

Ans. The mysterious works of the universe

 

12. What does ‘shanshui’ literally mean?

Ans. Mountain water

 

13. What is the mountain?

Ans. Yang

 

14. What is the water?

Ans. Yin

 

15. What is the third essential element in shanshui?

Ans. The middle void

 

16. What can the middle void be compared with?

Ans. With pranayama

 

17. Who mooted the concept of ‘art brut’?

Ans. French painter Jean Dubuffet

 

18. Where is Rock Garden?

Ans. In Chandigarh

 

4. Landscape of the Soul (Nathalie Trouveroy)

Short Type Q-Ans.

1. Describe the Chinese view of art.

Ans. The Chinese view of art is related to inner life and spirit. E.g., Wu Dazoi's painting, which was commissioned by the emperor Xuanzong, While the emperor could only see its outer brilliance, the artist entered his painting and disappeared along with his painting. In Chinese art a person may enter it from any point and travel in its beauties.

2. Describe the European view of art.

Ans. The European view of art is to create illusionistic. In 15th century a blacksmith had fallen in love with a painter's daughter: The father would not give his consent. Quinten painted a real fly on canvas. It was so real that the painter tried to swat it. 

3. Who had commissioned Wu Daozi’s painting? What does the painting show?

Ans. The Chinese Emperor commissioned the painter Wu Daozi, to decorate the palace walls with landscape paintings. The painter made a beautiful painting showing forests, mountains, clouds, waterfalls, men and birds.

4. What happened to the painter and his painting?

Ans. The painter made a beautiful painting showing forests, mountains, clouds, waterfalls, men and birds. There was a cave at the foot of the mountain in the painting. The painter clapped his hands and the mouth of the cave opened. As painter went inside the cave, the entrance closed and painting vanished from the wall.

5. What does the story of Wu Daozi teach us?

Ans. The story of Wu Daozi teaches us a lesson that an Emperor may rule the world but only the artist knows the inner world. That is way the painter was able to enter the cave, but not the emperor.

6. Who was Quinten Metsys? Whom did he want to marry?

Ans. Quentin Metsys was the Belgian painter born in 1466. He was also the founder of the Antwerp school. He fell in love with the daughter of a famous painter. But the father did not want to accept a blacksmith as his son-in-law.

 7. Who mooted the notion of ‘art brut’? What does it mean?

Ans. Art Brut (raw art) or Outsider Art, is the term coined by French artist Jean Dubuffet in 1940.  To refer to art made by individuals working outside of the established cultural mainstream. The best example of outsider art is ‘Rock Garden’ created by Nek Chand in Chandigarh (India).

 

Long Answer

1. Contrast the Chinese view of art with the European view with examples.

Ans. The Chinese view of art is trying to achieve the essence of inner life and spirit. The European view of art is to create illusionistic. The example of Chinese art is the painting made by Wu Daozi in 8^th century.  It was commissioned by Tang Emperor Xuanzong. The painter made a beautiful painting showing forests, mountains, clouds, waterfalls, men and birds. There was a cave at the foot of the mountain in the painting. The painter clapped his hands and the mouth of the cave opened. As painter went inside the cave, the entrance closed and painting vanished from the wall. The Example of European art is painting made by Quentin Metsys. In 15th century he had fallen in love with a painter's daughter: The father would not give his consent. Quinten painted a real fly on canvas. It was so real that the painter tried to swat it. When he realized and came to know the truth. He admitted Quinten as his apprentice and married his daughter with him. 

  

2. What do you understand by the term ‘outsider art’ and ‘art brut’ or ‘raw art’?

Ans. Art Brut (raw art) or Outsider Art is the term coined by French artist Jean Dubuffet in 1940.  To refer to art made by individuals working outside of the established cultural mainstream. The 'outsider art' is the art of those people who have no right to be the artists as they have received no formal training, yet they show talent and artistic insight. The best example of outsider art is ‘Rock Garden’ created by Nek Chand in Chandigarh (India). It was made by waste material, stones and rocks. The Swiss Commission for Unesco honoured him by way of a European exposition of his works.  The five month show, which began in October in 2005, was held at leading museums in Switzerland, Belgium, France and Italy. Thus an untutored genius created a paradise (Rock Garden), the best example of Outside art.