Riverside Pavilion in Snowy Mountains

Object Details

• Artist

  Formerly attributed to Guo Xi (傳)郭熙 (ca. 1001-1090)

• School/Tradition

  Zhe School

• Label

  On a gloomy winter day, a scholar sits alone in his elegant pavilion as his kneeling servant prepares some warm tea. Traditionally associated with longevity, and beloved for its spiritual freedom, a crane huddles against the cold on the veranda in front. Small figures make their way across a bridge, or pass along the trail that ascends the mountain to a pagoda and crimson temple secluded among the trees on a high ridge. By the river, a fisherman in a rain cape of woven bark steps from his boat and heads toward his ramshackle dwelling.

  The painting is dominated by a cluster of snowy peaks, their sculpted forms standing in relief against a lowering sky darkened with washes of ink. The twisting spine of the central massif, the jagged angular brushwork, and puffy, cloudlike rocks recall the monumental landscapes of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) painter Guo Xi, whose forged signature appears on the left edge of the painting. This work is a fine example of the highly mannered, almost rococo, continuation of Guo's style that was popular among Ming dynasty artists of the sixteenth-century Zhe School, which was centered in the former imperial capital of Hangzhou. Such wintery works were often created and displayed during the hot season as a psychological means to cool off.

• Provenance

  To 1917

  Wang Jiantang, Shanghai to 1917 [1]

  From 1917 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Wang Jiantang in 1917 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 1183, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [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

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Wang Jiantang 王鑑堂 (late 19th-early 20th century) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1500s, 1550s

• Name

  Wang, Jiantang, Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Water, Charles Lang Freer collection, Landscapes, Art, Winter, Snow, Chinese Art, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Rivers

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings