Pure Tones among Hills and Waters
Xiao Yuncong1664
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
Painted at the age of 68, this landscape is one of Xiao Yuncong’s most mature works. Extraordinary in its combination of fine details and bold brushstrokes and washes, it is also one of its longest compositions in handscroll format, extending over seven meters in length.
Biographical notes on Xiao Yuncong relate that he did not pursue the career of an official, but "furnished a cottage in the eastern suburbs [of Wuhu in Anhui province] and amused himself playing the <em>qin</em> (zither) and reading every day. All it took was for him to grab a brush, to complete poems and essays instantly. . . . He also was skilled in musical arts, astronomy, philology, <em>yinyang </em>studies, and its related skills at prognostication: indeed, he knew them all."
- Title: Pure Tones among Hills and Waters
- Creator: Xiao Yuncong (Chinese, 1596-1673)
- Date Created: 1664
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 30.8 x 781.7 cm (12 1/8 x 307 3/4 in.)
- Provenance: Jiang Xun 江恂 [active about 1753–after 1780], Xiang Yuan 項源 [active about 1811], Qi Zhiliu 祁之鏐 [active about 1858], Yu Zhimeng 俞芷盟 [second half of 19th century], Wu Changshou 吳昌綬 [1867–1924], Zhang Yunzhong 張允中 [1881–1960?], Wang Shaoming 汪兆銘 [Wang Jingwei 汪精衛, 1883–1944], (Walter Hochstadter [1914–2007], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Painting
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1954.262
- Medium: handscroll, ink and light color on paper
- Original Title: 山水清音圖
- Inscriptions: 種松發秀色，具是高人心。/ 鑿石築茅屋，長年覆綠陰。/ 白雲無意出，舒卷趨空林。/ 萬籟時一寂，微風墮清音。/ 此情莫可擬，此景誰能論。/ 只向千峰裏，共彈五絃琴。/ 桃花依綠水，不覺又春深。 甲辰花朝題于青蓮閣, 鐘山老人蕭雲從。[印] 鐘山老人, Title and inscription, dated 1744, and 3 seals of Shen Feng 沈鳳 (1685-1755)., 4 colophons and 24 additional seals: 1 colophon, dated 1811, and 5 seals of Xiang Yuan 項源 (active about 1811); 1 colophon, dated 1858, and 2 seals of Qi Junzao 祁寯藻 (1793-1866); 1 colophon and 4 seals of Zhang Yunzhong 張允中 (1881–1960?); 4 seals of Jiang Xun 江恂 (active about 1753–after 1780); 1 colophon dated 1943, and 2 seals of Wang Shaoming 汪兆銘 (Wang Jingwei 汪精衛, 1883–1944); 1 seal of Qi Zhiliu 祁之鏐 (active about 1858); 2 seals of Yu Zhimeng 俞芷盟 (second half of 19th century); 4 seals unidentified.
- Department: Chinese Art
- Culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
- Credit Line: John L. Severance Fund
- Collection: ASIAN - Handscroll
- Accession Number: 1954.262
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