Album of the Feng River Landscape Scenes: Sheer Cliffs and Tumbling Waterfall

Object Details

• Artist

  Hongren (1610-1664)

• Label

  Hongren is the Buddhist name taken by the painter Jiang Tao, who also used the name Jianjiang. Already in his own lifetime, he was acclaimed for his cool, spare vision of nature, which he translated into an individualistic style of austere monochrome landscapes. Trained in youth for the esteemed Confucian career of serving as a government official, Hongren passed the entrance-level exams for public service but then withdrew to care for his widowed mother and to study art and literature. When he was thirty-four, Manchu conquerors swept into China and overthrew the established imperial order, founding a new dynasty called the Qing (1644-1911). Hongren, who remained loyal to the previous rulers, fled the ensuing turmoil and became a Buddhist monk.

  These paintings (S1987.211.1 through .6) belong to an album of ten scenes inspired by the painting styles of previous masters, as well as by Hongren's study of natural scenery (other leaves are on view: S1987.211.2 - 10). Old Trees by a Stream and Sheer Cliffs and Tumbling Waterfall demonstrate Hongren's virtuosity in both a wet- and dry-brush idiom, although he is better known for the latter.

• Provenance

  To?

  Zhang Daqian (1899-1983). [1]

  To 1987

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), New York. [2]

  From 1987

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York. [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See object file.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See note 1.

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Exhibition History

  Les trois reves du mandarin (October 22, 2009 to February 14, 2010)

  The Arts of China (November 18, 1990 to September 7, 2014)

  Pavilions and Immortal Mountains: Chinese Decorative Art and Paintings (September 28, 1987 to February 28, 1988)

  Rarities of Chinese Painting in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections (December 8, 1973 to June 29, 1986)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Zhang Daqian 張大千 (China, 1899-1983)

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

• Origin

  Shexian, Anhui province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1660s

• Name

  Sackler, Arthur M., Zhang, Daqian

• Place

  China, Shexian, Anhui province

• Topic

  Landscapes, Art, Waterfalls, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Rivers

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings