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The Wangchuan Villa

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At A Glance

Period

17th century
Geography

China
Material

Ink and color on silk
Dimension

H x W (overall): 30.8 x 438 cm (12 1/8 x 172 7/16 in)
Accession Number

F1911.205
EDAN ID

edanmdm:fsg_F1911.205

Object Details

Artist

Traditionally attributed to Guo Zhongshu (傳)郭忠恕 (910-977)
Label

Wangchuan Villa was the famous garden estate of the poet-painter Wang Wei (ca. 699-ca.761), who acquired the property around 740. Wang wrote twenty quatrains describing points of interest in the garden, and he illustrated the poetic mood of each site in a painting that ultimately became one of the most revered landscape scrolls in Chinese history. The composition provides a journey through a spectacular garden filled with sites designed to encourage quiet contemplation and at the same time suitable for entertaining visitors.

The composition of the Wangchuan Villa has been preserved in generations of copies; this version is a standard copy of what Wang Wei's original painting was believed to look like. Names of the special scenic features of the garden are written above each scene, including Hollow at Meng's Wall, Bamboo Hill, Magnolia Park, and White Stone Shallows.

That Wang Wei was a famous poet and painter as well as a garden designer helped inspire the Chinese view that these three deeply resonant arts can each serve equally well as expressions of a person's mind and personality.
Provenance

To 1911

Yen Wat-sai, China, to 1911 [1]

From 1911 to 1919

Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yen Wat-sai, in China, in 1911 [2]

From 1920

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 747, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Note that the Accession List, Collections Management office, records the dealer’s name as Wen Yat-sai, rather than Yen Wat-sai. 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

Chinese Gardens in Painters Imagination (February 1, 1997 to January 4, 1998)
Previous custodian or owner

Yen Wat-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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