Pure Sanctuary with Pine Grown Stairs

Object Details

• Artist

  Copy after Yan Ciping (傳)閻次平 (active ca. 1164-after 1181)

• Label

  On a rocky promontory, the unassuming buildings of a Buddhist or Daoist monastic complex overlook the placid waters of a lake. Narrow steps lead up the slope to a smaller building hidden among tall pines. Conforming to Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279) practice, the main composition is concentrated into one corner, while the remainder of the picture space is given over to water, atmospheric effects, and vague landscape forms in the distance. This deftly rendered painting is a close copy of an extant fan attributed to the twelfth-century court artist, Yan Ciping. Technical aspects of the brushwork and certain differences in detail from the older version suggest a late-fifteenth-century date of execution.

• Provenance

  To 1909

  Loon Gu Sai, Beijing, to 1909 [1]

  From 1909 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Loon Gu Sai, Beijing, in 1909 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Album List, pg. 30, S.I. 8, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. According to Ingrid Larsen, "'Don’t Send Ming or Later Pictures': Charles Lang Freer and the First Major Collection of Chinese Painting in an American Museum," Ars Orientalis vol. 40 (2011), Loon Gu Sai was possibly Lunguzhai, a store in the antiques district of Liulichang.

  This object exhibits seals, colophons, or inscriptions that could provide additional information regarding the object’s history; see Curatorial Remarks in the object record for further details.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Setting the Bar: Arts of the Song dynasty (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Style in Chinese Landscape Painting: The Song Legacy (May 17 to October 26, 2014)

  Palaces and Pavilions: Grand Architecture in Chinese Painting (September 29, 2002 to March 30, 2003)

  Chinese Album Leaves and Fan Paintings (September 14, 1977 to April 8, 1978)

  Chinese Album Leaves and Lacquer (February 22, 1971 to November 22, 1971)

  Chinese Album Leaves (December 17, 1962 to April 8, 1963)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Loon Gu Sai (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1590s, 1400s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Sai, Loon Gu

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Pine tree, Fans, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Chinese Art, Lakes, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings