Fisherman Preparing Food on the Riverbank

Object Details

• Artist

  Formerly attributed to Ma Kui (active ca. 1180-1220)

• School/Tradition

  Zhe School

• Label

  A lone fisherman--perhaps a scholar-recluse--crouches on the riverbank heating his meal on a glowing portable brazier. Behind, he has moored his boat under the leafless, winter branches of a tree hung with vines. The poet and scholar Yang Xunji (1458-1546), a native of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, ostensibly inscribed the following verse on the painting:

  Misty hills, misty trees, and ever boundless sands;

  In the blue and green, vast and vague, where is home?

  Only the old fisherman understands what I truly mean;

  Water, sky, empty, wide, beside the blooming reeds.

  (Translation by Stephen D. Allee)

  The nine-character inscription at upper right records that the artist Lü Xue (late 17th-early 18th century) saw the painting in 1701. At lower left, the signature of the Southern Song dynasty painter Ma Kui (active 1180-1220) is spurious.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Boating on a River (February 12 to August 14, 2005)

  On the River (April 01, 1995 to January 23, 1996)

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

  Chinese Figure Painting (September 17, 1973 to January 3, 1975)

  Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Memorial Exhibition (September 25, 1971 to October 2, 1972)

  Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1500s, 1600s

• Name

  Ma, Kui

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Trees, Art, Chinese Art, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Fisherman

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings