Wind in the Courtyard Pines

Object Details

• Artist

  Formerly attributed to Zhao Boju (ca. 1120s-ca.1162)

• Description

  Small rocks, trees and tall pines rendered in ink and light color appear in the foreground. In the middle portion of the composition a scholar attended by a servant is seen leaning against a railing. Behind the scholar is a low couch with a small screen and a plain, concave ceramic (?) pillow at one end. Through the window at the right, another servant can be seen arranging objects on a table. Plants and ducks in the inner courtyards are visible through the open doorways. A narrow horizontal band of blue fabric hangs above the rolled spotted bamboo blinds. Tile roofs, wooden framework and pine trees form a dramatic pattern in the upper section of the painting.

• Previous custodian or owner

  Shi Minggu (1434-1496)

  Pang Yuanji 龐元濟 (1864-1949)

  Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer ((1875-1959) and (1887-1970))

  Elizabeth Meyer Lorentz (1913-2001)

• Provenance

  Shi Minggu (1434-1496), Wujiang, Jiangsu province. [1]

  To 1916

  Pang Yuanji (1864-1949), Shanghai. [2]

  From 1916 to 1970

  Eugene Meyer (1875-1959) and Agnes E. Meyer (1887-1970), New York, NY, Washington, DC, and Mt. Kisco, NY, purchased from Pang Yuanji in 1916. [3]

  From 1970 to 1998

  Elizabeth Meyer Lorentz (1914-2001), Armonk, NY, by descent from her mother Agnes E. Meyer.

  From 1998

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Elizabeth Meyer Lorentz. [4]

  Notes:

  [1] The Ming connoisseur Shi Minggu’s collector seal is located on the painting.

  [2] The painting was published and illustrated in Pang Yuanji’s catalogue, Antique Famous Chinese Paintings Collected by P’ang Lai Ch’en, vol. 1 (Shanghai, Privately published by Pang Yuanji, 1916), no. 23: “Ts’ao Po Chü [Zhao Boju], Pines in the Court.” A seal with Pang Yuanji’s study name, Xuzhai, is located on the paining.

  [3] In 1916 Pang Yuanji, with the assistance of Pang Zanchen and Seaouke Yue, sent a group of paintings illustrated in Antique Famous Chinese Paintings Collected by P’ang Lai Ch’en catalogue to New York and showed them to Charles Lang Freer. See 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), p. 23. Freer made a selection of paintings for his collection and advised Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer as well as Louisine Havemeyer with their acquisitions. Freer’s copy of the 1916 Pang catalogue includes penciled annotations indicating that this painting was purchased by Agnes E. Meyer.

  [4] See Elizabeth Meyer Lorentz’s Deed of Gift, dated February 5, 1998, copy in object file.

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Collection of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer. Gift of Elizabeth Meyer Lorentz in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Freer Gallery of Art

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1590s, 1500s

• Name

  Minggu, Shi, Lorentz, Elizabeth Meyer, Zhao, Boju, Meyer, Eugene and Agnes E., Pang, Yuanji

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Pine tree, Wind, Art, Chinese Art, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings