Detail View: The AMICA Library: Landscape in the Style of Dong Yuan (active about 937-975) and Juran (active about 960-985)

AMICA ID: 
CMA_.1969.123
AMICA Library Year: 
2002
Object Type: 
Paintings
Creator Name: 
Gong Xian
Creator Nationality: 
Chinese
Creator Role: 
artist
Creator Dates/Places: 
c. 1619 - 1689
Gender: 
M
Creator Name-CRT: 
Gong Xian
Title: 
Landscape in the Style of Tung Yüan and Chü-jan
Title Type: 
Former
Title: 
Landscape in the Style of Dong Yuan (active about 937-975) and Juran (active about 960-985)
Title Type: 
Primary
View: 
Full View
Creation Date: 
c. 1650
Creation Start Date: 
1645
Creation End Date: 
1655
Materials and Techniques: 
hanging scroll, ink with white on silk
Classification Term: 
Painting
Dimensions: 
Image: 216.4cm x 57.5cm, Overall: 288.2cm x 89.5cm
AMICA Contributor: 
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Owner Location: 
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
ID Number: 
1969.123
Credit Line: 
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
Inscriptions: 
Artist's inscription, signature, and 4 seals: Among [early] painters, Tung Yüan and Chü-jan were the actual founders of the Southern school. Their paintings display neither any air of ferocity and aggressiveness nor any trace of stiff meticulousness. Painters of later periods may be known for their natural talents or praised for their observance of established traditions. Only Tung Yüan and Chü-jan came close to the Tao. However, those who indulge in showing off their talent will deviate from the tradition, while those who adhere to tradition will alienate themselves from the Tao. The supreme Tao is inexplicable in words. Some critics argue that the Tao is nothing more than the suppression of personal talent [individuality] and the submission to the laws [traditions]. Should we have brought this question up to Tung Yüan and Chü-jan, I am afraid even they would have no answer. Alas, how difficultly subtle! This painting, which is an old work of mine done twenty years ago, has been in the collection of the Wu family in Hsin-an [Anhui Province]. Mr. Wu Tsin-ming has valued it as a family treasure. He brought it to Chin-ling [Nanking] and asked me to write an inscription. Since I discussed painting [theories] with Tsin-ming and touched upon the subject [of the Tung-Chü tradition], I shall record what I said - not that I dare to claim that this painting is an imitation of Tung-Chü with any merit. At the end of winter of the keng-hsü year [1670]. Pan-mou chü-jen, Kung Hsien [2 seals] Kung Pan-ch'ien; Yeh-i Hsien. [seal, lower left corner] Kung Hsien. [seal above, undecipherable, but probably a seal of Kung Hsien].trans. WKH2 additional seals of Ch'eng Ch'i (20th c.).
Rights: 
Provenance: 
Ch'eng Ch'i
Related Image Identifier Link: 
CMA_.AM20021410.TIF