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Mt. Qingbian
Dong Qichang1617
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
Dong Qichang radically transforms the landscape composition into a purely abstract design. He organizes the mountain forms to achieve an overall sense of structure, activating the flow of energy (<em>qi</em>) and the momentum of force (<em>shi</em>) throughout the pictorial design. In his art, brush and ink assume life independent of the depicted forms, so that the painting can be appreciated for “the sheer marvels of brush and ink.”
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Details
- Title: Mt. Qingbian
- Creator: Dong Qichang (Chinese, 1555–1636)
- Date Created: 1617
- Physical Dimensions: Painting: 225 x 67.6 cm (88 9/16 x 26 5/8 in.); Overall: 355 x 92.7 cm (139 3/4 x 36 1/2 in.)
- Provenance: Li Enqing 李恩慶 [19th century], (Wan-go H. C. Weng 翁萬戈 [1918–2020], Lyme, NH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Painting
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1980.10
- Medium: hanging scroll, ink on paper
- Inscriptions: Artist's first inscription, signature, and 2 seals: A painting of the Qingbian Mountains in the manner of Beiyuan [Dong Yuan]. In the summer of the dingsi year [1617], on the last day of the fifth month, [I] send this to my senior, Zhang Shenqi. Dong Xuanzai [seals] Zhi zhi hao ri jiang guan 知制誥日講官; Dong Qichang yin 董其昌印., Artist's second inscription and signature: Piling irons for ten thousand feet guard the purple sky;/ Where puppies are seen on top of clouds, villages and marketplaces lie./ In the splendor of autumn, where is the most worthy spot to spend the day?/ Amid the rustling sounds of mountain streams, with a volume in hand, meditating on the Way [Dao]. Inscribed by Qichang. (trans. WKH/LYSL), 4 additional seals: 3 of Li Enqing 李恩慶 (jinshi of 1833); 1 of Weng Wan-go 翁萬戈 (b. 1918).
- Fun Fact: Dong Qichang had visited the Bian Mountains, which are part of a low range located not far from Wuxing and Lake Tai in the southern province of Zhejiang.
- Department: Chinese Art
- Culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
- Credit Line: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
- Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
- Accession Number: 1980.10
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