Landscape in the Style of Huang Gongwang

1649

Gu Tianzhi

Gu Tianzhi (Chinese, active mid-1600s)

Chinese Art

Landscape in the Style of Huang Gongwang, 1649. Gu Tianzhi (Chinese, active mid-1600s). Handscroll, ink and color on paper; overall: 25.5 x 717.5 cm (10 1/16 x 282 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1970.3

Original Source

Maker/Artist: Gu Tianzhi
Classification: Painting
Formatted Medium: handscroll, ink and color on paper
Medium: handscroll, ink, color, paper
Dimensions: Overall: 25.5 x 717.5 cm (10 1/16 x 282 1/2 in.)
Inscribed: Inscription: [印] 豹陰山房吳立夫有云：胸中無萬卷書，眼中無天下奇山川，未必能文。予謂作畫亦然。只念十年學道，踽踽若禁足僧。即間遠遊，亦北抵金陵，南抵錢塘而止。天下幽勝未厭予懷也。作此巻竟，吾將載筆尋山，飄飄然又若行脚僧矣。己丑十月之望東廬識。 [印] 顧天植印; 東盧. Translation: Artist's inscription, signature, and 3 seals: [1 seal] Bao yin shan fang Wu Lifu once said: “Those whose bosoms do not contain ten thousand volumes of books within or whose eyes have not seen the wondrous sights of mountains and rivers around the world are not likely to be able to write well.” I say, it is the same with painting. During the past ten years, like a cloistered monk, I have devoted time to studying the True Ways. On occasions when I ventured out, I went no farther than Jinling [Nanjing] to the north and Qiantang to the south. The world is surpassing in its hidden wonders, and it will never disappoint me. Having completed this scroll, I shall take my brush with me to seek [unknown] hills. So free and liberated—I am like those peripatetic monks. On the fifteenth day, tenth month, the year of jichou [1649], I, Donglu, so stated. [2 seals] Gu Tianzhi yin; Dong lu. Inscription: 7 additional inscriptions, and 15 additional seals: 1 inscription and 1 seal of Gu Yinguang 顧胤光 (16th-17th c.); 1 inscription and 3 seals of Shan Xun 單恂 (?-1650); 4 inscriptions and 8 seals of Pei Jingfu 裴景福 (1854–1926); 1 inscription of Hu Bicheng 胡璧城 (19th-20th c.); 3 seals unidentified. Inscription: 黃子久有富春山、浮巒暖翠圖為千古墨寶。予曾於禾中項氏家見之。雖設色而墨氣清湛如新，頗類此卷筆氣。蓋因東廬神氣秀遠，落筆師心，自能造古人堂奧耳。晴窗無事，展卷服膺，為題數語。 Translation: 1 inscription and 1 seal of Gu Yinguang 顧胤光 (active early 17th century): Huang Zijiu [Huang Gongwang] has left us such paintings as [Dwelling in the] Fuchun Mountains and Floating Mists in the Warm Green Hills, which are ink masterpieces for thousands of years. I once saw the latter painting in the Xiang family collection in Jiaxing. Tinted with colors, its ink is as pure and fresh as if it were newly done. In the quality of the brushstrokes, it resembles this very painting. This is because Donglu’s spirit is penetrating and far-reaching. When he moves his brush, it follows his heart’s desire, so he is able to plumb the depths of ancient masters. Sitting by a window drenched in sunlight, I am at leisure to open up this scroll and admire it so that I may inscribe a few comments on it. Inscription: 顧氏世稱畫絕。自愷之後，德謙之仙釋，寶光、閎中之人物，景秀、野王之花卉，皆一時畫苑峰岫。至以山水特擅，則推寄園先生，真昭代大家也。東廬、蓴氷各本家，學而變化之。東廬此卷，蒼遠秀潤，出玅入逸。置顧氏清閟林中，殆三謝詩之玄暉耶？東廬其寶此自娛，毋令狡心豪手者一旦蘭亭賺去！庚寅冷烴日, 單恂漫題。 Translation: 1 inscription and 3 seals of Shan Xun 單恂 (jinshi of 1640), wrote in 1650: The clan of Gu won wide acclaim for its painting talents. From [Gu] Kaizhi onward, [Gu] Deqian was known for his depiction of immortals and Buddhist subjects. [Gu] Baoguang and [Gu] Hongzhong were known for figure painting. [Gu] Jingxiu and [Gu] Yewang were skilled at flowers and plants. These are summits in the sphere of painting. Insofar as landscape is concerned, Master Jiyuan occupies the forefront of the present dynasty. Both Donglu and Chunbing having inherited their own respective family traditions, sought to transform [Jiyuan’s influence]. This painting by Donglu is known for having combined rugged distance and moistened elegance. Indeed, it has emerged from the “wondrous class” and entered into the “untrammeled.” Were we to place it amid the Gu clan’s rank of the pure and the secluded, might we acclaim it as the equivalent of the work of Xuanhui [Xie Tiao 謝朓, 464-499] among the Three Xie? Donglu should cherish this and not allow it to be seized by trickery or by force as in the case of Lanting xu [Preface to the Orchid Pavilion]! On the day of cold stove [day before the Qingming Festival], in the gengyin year [1650], inscribed leisurely by Shan Xun. Inscription: 摹大癡得髄. 煙客, 廉州, 神妙不過如此。宜東盧自譽，而寄園極稱之也。 Translation: Inscription (on the silk right before the painting begins) by Pei Jingfu 裴景福 (1854–1926): In imitating Dachi [Huang Gongwang] he has distilled the essence and matched the artistic achievement of [such prominent masters as] Wang Shimin [1592–1680] and Wang Jian [1598–1677]. No wonder Gu Tianzhi could take pride in himself, and Gu Yinguang [his uncle and teacher] praised him highly.
Departments: Chinese Art
Accession Number: 1970.3
Credit Line: John L. Severance Fund
Exhibitions: Year in Review: 1970, The Restless Landscape: Chinese Painting of the Late Ming Period, Visions of Landscape: East and West, <em>Restless Landscape</em>. University Art Museum, Berkeley, CA (November 9, 1971-January 2, 1972); Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (February 12-April 2, 1972)., <em>Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting</em>. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 10-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982).
Rights Statement: CC0