Setting Out Early After a Snowfall

Object Details

• Artist

  Zhou Duo (late 17th-early 18th century?)

• Label

  This large hanging scroll is a masterful reinterpretation of the monumental landscape idiom originally developed during the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127). Judging from its execution, the painting is datable to the early eighteenth century, when such compositions were again in vogue, especially among wealthy collectors in the city of Yangzhou. The artist may have been Zhou Duo, a little-known painter from the city of Nanjing, who inscribed a poem on the painting at upper right. While no other extant works by Zhou have been identified, he evidently practiced during the early to mid-eighteenth century in both his native Nanjing and nearby Yangzhou. His poem reads:

  As wooded hilltops clear of snow, I climb astride my saddle,

  How shall I fear the frigid winds that chill this ancient road!

  I must keep in mind the rustic pleasure of a thatched-roof inn,

  For peaks of jade stretch off afar, all the way to Chang'an.

  A later hand has added several texts to this work to make it appear to be a genuine painting by the artist Guo Zhongshu (ca. 910-977), including a label strip, forged superscription, and fake artist's signature.

• Provenance

  ?-1959

  Eugene Meyer (1875-1959) and Agnes E. Meyer (1887-1970), method of acquisition unknown [1]

  1959-1970

  Agnes E. Meyer inherited upon the death of her husband, Eugene Meyer [2]

  1970-1992

  Ruth Meyer Epstein (1921-2007), by descent from her mother, Agnes E. Meyer [3]

  From 1992

  The National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, bequeathed by Ruth Meyer Epstein in 1992 [4]

  Notes:

  [1] See note 4.

  [2] Eugene Meyer died in Washington D.C. on July 17, 1959. Upon his death, his wife, Agnes E. Meyer inherited the entirety of the couple's collection.

  [3] The object was part of the Estate of Agnes E. Meyer. Her daughter, Ruth Meyer Epstein inherited the work upon her death.

  [4] See Ruth Meyer Epstein’s Deed of Gift, dated July 9, 1992, copy in object file. This work is part of the Museum’s Freer Gallery of Art Collection.

  Research updated on June 27, 2024

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Guests of the Hills: Travelers in Chinese Landscape Painting (August 23, 2008 to March 15, 2009)

  Chinese Arts of the Brush, 17th - 18th Century (January 21 to July 22, 2001)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer

  Mrs. Ruth Meyer Epstein (1921-2007)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Ruth Meyer Epstein

• 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.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1720s

• Name

  Epstein, Ruth Meyer, Meyer, Eugene and Agnes E.

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Description and travel, Landscapes, Art, Winter, Snow, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings