Horses and Grooms Crossing a River

Detail of a pattern
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Terms of Use

Creative Commons

At A Glance

  • Period

    14th century or likely much later
  • Geography

    China
  • Material

    Ink and color on paper
  • Dimension

    H x W (image): 16.8 x 87 cm (6 5/8 x 34 1/4 in)
  • Accession Number

    F1931.3
  • EDAN ID

    edanmdm:fsg_F1931.3

Object Details

  • Artist

    Traditionally attributed to Zhao Mengfu 趙孟頫 (1254-1322)
  • Label

    Zhao Mengfu, a descendant of the Song (960-1279) royal family, was a multitalented artist who lived during the early Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) and is regarded as the leading painter and calligrapher of his time. He was skillful in a wide range of subject matter, such as landscape, figure, horse, and bird-and-flower painting. According to his own statement, Zhao learned to draw horses at a relatively young age and believed that his paintings were able to capture the true inner nature of a horse.
    In this short handscroll, Zhao depicts three grooms and fifteen horses in various postures crossing a river. By combining the colorful realism of the Tang dynasty (618-907) with the ink line drawing of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) literati tradition, Zhao Mengfu established a new direction for his fellow painters during the transitional years of the late thirteenth century. While the painting does not exhibit the superb skill and fluency of the artist's genuine works, it is probably a close copy of an original composition by Zhao and may have been executed by one of his more accomplished followers.
  • Provenance

    1931
    Fukushima Company, New York 1931 [1]
    From 1931
    Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Fukushima Company, New York in 1931 [2]
    Notes:
    [1] Object file, undated folder sheet note.
    [2] See note 1. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.
  • Collection

    Freer Gallery of Art Collection
  • Exhibition History

    Style in Chinese Landscape Painting: The Yuan Legacy (November 22, 2014 to May 31, 2015)
    Year of the Horse: Chinese Horse Paintings (February 24 to September 2, 2002)
    Chinese Paintings (June 5, 1957 to January 1, 1963)
    Chinese Painting and Pottery (May 2, 1923 to March 22, 1943)
  • Previous custodian or owner

    Fukushima Company
  • Origin

    China
  • Credit Line

    Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
  • Type

    Painting
  • Restrictions and Rights

    CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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