Dwelling in Seclusion in the Summer Mountains

Maker(s)
Artist: Wang Meng ็Ž‹่’™ (ca. 1308-1385)
Historical period(s)
Yuan dynasty, 1354
Medium
Ink and color on silk
Dimensions
H x W (image): 57.4 x 34.5 cm (22 5/8 x 13 9/16 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Purchase โ€” Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1959.17
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Hanging scroll

Keywords
China, landscape, summer, Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368)
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Label

Wang Meng was the youngest of the Four Great Masters of the Yuan Dynasty, and this scroll is his earliest known dated work. The painting shows a lake dominated by rounded mountain peaks, reminiscent of the scenery in Wang Meng's native southern China. To contour the surfaces of the mountains and rocks, Wang Meng used soft "hemp fiber" brush strokes, ropy lines with light traces of ink from individual brush hairs.

The artist's inscription in the upper left corner reads:  "In late spring of 1354 Wang Meng of Wuxing painted Secluded Dwelling in the Summer Mountatins for His Honor, the County Magistrate Zhongfang."


To learn more about this and similar objects, visit http://www.asia.si.edu/SongYuan/default.asp Song and Yuan Dynasty Painting and Calligraphy.

Published References
  • Shane McCausland. The Mongol Century: Visual Cultures of Yuan China, 1271-1368. London. .
  • Wen C. Fong. Art as History: Calligraphy and Painting as One. Princeton. .
  • Suzuki Kei. Chugoku kaiga sogo zuroku [Comprehensive Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Painting]. 5 vols., Tokyo, 1982-1983. vol. 1: p. 249.
  • Hsieh Chih-liu. T'ang wu Tsi Sung Yuan ming chi [Noted Paintings of the T'ang, Five Dynasties, Sung and Yuan periods]. Shanghai. pl. 104.
  • Chang Yuan. Ta feng t'ang ming chi ti i chi [Masterpieces of Chinese Painting Selected from the Great Wind Hall of the Chang Family]. Kyoto. vol. 1: pl. 14.
  • Dr. John Alexander Pope, Thomas Lawton, Harold P. Stern. The Freer Gallery of Art. 2 vols., Washington and Tokyo, 1971-1972. cat. 63, vol. 1: p. 167.
  • Chugoku kaiga shu ronshu. Tokyo. p. 19, fig. 10.
  • Richard Vinograd. Family Properties: Personal Context and Cultural Pattern in Wang Meng's "Pien Mountains" of 1366. vol. 13 Washington and Ann Arbor. p. 24.
  • Shou-Chien Shih. From Style to Huayi: Ruminating on Chinese Art History. Taipei, Taiwan. p.115, fig.51.
  • Xie Zhiliu. "ๅ”ไบ”ไปฃๅฎ‹ๅ…ƒๅ่ฟน." The Song and Yuan Dynasties. Shanghai. pp. 203-205.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Song and Yuan Dynasty Painting and Calligraphy
Google Cultural Institute
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