Green Peaks under Clear Sky: After Huang Gongwang

1703–8

Wang Yuanqi

Wang Yuanqi (Chinese, 1642–1715)

Chinese Art

Green Peaks under Clear Sky: After Huang Gongwang, 1703–8. Wang Yuanqi (Chinese, 1642–1715). Handscroll, ink and light color on paper; overall: 37.5 x 267 cm (14 3/4 x 105 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1972.153

Original Source

Maker/Artist: Wang Yuanqi
Classification: Painting
Formatted Medium: handscroll, ink and light color on paper
Medium: handscroll, ink, light, color, paper
Dimensions: Overall: 37.5 x 267 cm (14 3/4 x 105 1/8 in.)
Inscribed: Inscription: 晴巒霽翠：倣黃子久。麓臺。[印]石師道人 Translation: Artist's inscription, signature, and seal: Green Peaks under Clearing Sky: After Huang Zijiu [Huang Gongwang]. Lutai [seal] Shi shi dao ren. Inscription: [印] 御書畫圖留與人看. 子久畫於宋諸大家荊、關、李、范、董、巨，無所不有。運筆不假修飾。皴法由淡入濃，化諸家之迹者也。澹明徐君偶見縮本，臨摹六幅。囑余參以富春大意，成一長卷。余夙夜在公，乘暇偶一點染。至戊子九秋告竣，閱四、五年矣。昔大癡為無用師作富春卷，七年而成，為千古鉅觀。今拙筆癡鈍。亦淹留至此。可為識者噴飯矣。王原祁題。[印]王原祁印; 麓臺 [印, 畫芯左下] 西廬後人 Translation: Artist's colophon and 4 seals: [1 seal] Yu shu hua tu liu yu ren kan. In his paintings, Zijiu [Huang Gongwang] possessed everything for which Song masters such as Jin [Hao], Guan [Tong], Li [Cheng], Fan [Kuan], Dong [Yuan] and Ju[ran] were known. In using the brush, he rarely lavished attention on decorative effects. In his cun method, he began from light to dark, thereby fusing the traits of [the aforementioned] masters. In the spring of the kuiwei year [1703], Xu Danming by chance saw small versions of some paintings [by the master], and he copied six of them. He asked me to render a handscroll by incorporating these, together with the main themes in the Fuchun scroll, to make a long handscroll. Because I was preoccupied day and night by official affairs, I could only add dots here or washes there. It was not until the autumn of wuzi [1708] that it was completed, my having already spent four or five years on the task. In the old days, Dachi [Huang Gongwang] painted the Fuchun scroll for Master Wuyong; he completed it in seven years. It was a true masterpiece among thousands of antiquities. Now I looked at my own dumb and foolish brushwork while lingering on to this extent. Those who are connoisseurs would have laughed [at me] heartily. Inscribed by Wang Yuanqi. [2 seals] Wang Yuanqi yin; Lutai [1 seal at end of painting] Xi lu hou ren. Inscription: 3 additional colophons and 15 additional seals: 1 colophon and 9 seals of Yang Shicong 楊士驄 (b. 1870); 1 colophon of Wu Hufan 吳湖帆 (1894–1968); 1 colophon and 1 seal of Wu Mei (20th c.); 5 seals of Cheng Qi 程琦 (1911–1988).
Departments: Chinese Art
Accession Number: 1972.153
Credit Line: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
Exhibitions: Year in Review: 1972, Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting, Visions of Landscape: East and West, Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection
Rights Statement: CC0