Artwork Description

Title: Pond in front of the door
Artist: Xinlin Jiang
Date: 2011
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 21.7 × 44.3 in (55 × 112.5 cm)

1. Artwork Identification
Pond in front of the door is a tranquil oil painting by Chinese realist painter Xinlin Jiang, executed in 2011. Measuring 55 × 112.5 cm (21.7 × 44.3 in), the work captures a still moment of rural architecture mirrored in the placid surface of a pond. Delicate trees, bare of leaves, rise gently against the facades of village homes, while reflections dance softly below—creating a serene balance between the built environment and nature.

2. Artistic Style and Influences
The painting exemplifies Jiang’s painterly realism, with a subtle touch of tonal impressionism. His brushwork remains controlled yet lyrical, capturing the soft modulation of early morning or late afternoon light. The architectural clarity of the homes is offset by the organic forms of the trees and rippling water. Jiang’s visual language bears affinities with the rural lyrical realism developed by artists such as Wu Guanzhong and He Duoling, where landscape is imbued with psychological stillness and poetic restraint.

3. Historical Context
Produced in 2011, this painting belongs to a wave of post-2000s Chinese realist art that refocused on the fading aesthetics of the countryside. As urban development rapidly transformed China’s visual and cultural landscape, artists like Jiang documented the beauty and impermanence of vernacular architecture and village life. This scene evokes not only a specific geographic location but also the memory of a lifestyle increasingly lost to modernization.

4. Provenance
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

5. Condition and Conservation
The artwork is in very good condition. The canvas remains structurally sound with no deformation, and the paint surface is stable and free from cracks, losses, or discoloration. No restorations are visible under inspection, and the piece has been well preserved in a controlled environment.

6. Artistic Significance
This work stands as a poignant reflection of Xinlin Jiang’s deep reverence for rural China. With its meditative composition and refined technique, Pond in front of the door elevates a seemingly ordinary village scene into a timeless visual poem. Its contemplative mood and technical precision make it an important example of contemporary Chinese realism, appealing to collectors of regional landscape and transitional modern Chinese painting.