Streams and Mountains

1372

Xu Ben

Xu Ben (Chinese, 1335–1380)

Chinese Art

Streams and Mountains, 1372. Xu Ben (Chinese, 1335–1380). Hanging scroll, ink on paper; image: 92.2 x 37.6 cm (36 5/16 x 14 13/16 in.); overall: 228 x 54.5 cm (89 3/4 x 21 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1997.96 An attendant opens a reed gate to welcome the scholar with a walking stick approaching the rustic retreat.

Original Source

Maker/Artist: Xu Ben
Classification: Painting
Formatted Medium: hanging scroll, ink on paper
Medium: hanging, scroll, ink, paper
Dimensions: Image: 92.2 x 37.6 cm (36 5/16 x 14 13/16 in.); Overall: 228 x 54.5 cm (89 3/4 x 21 7/16 in.)
Inscribed: Inscription: 綠樹黃鸝處處山，偶從谿上看雲還。/ 人生未許全無事，纔得登臨便是閑。壬子七月十日徐賁為吉夫先生畫並詩共上 [印] 幼文 Translation: Artist's poem, inscription, and seal: Green trees, yellow orioles, everywhere are mountains;/ Aimlessly I return from the stream, where I watched the clouds./ Man’s life does not allow unbroken ease,/ But to be able to be high up in the mountain, this is leisure. Xu Ben painted this for Mr. Jifu together with a poem, on the tenth day of the seventh month of the renzi year [1372]. [seal] Youwen. Inscription: Label on mounting probably by Liang Qingbiao 梁清標 (1620-1691). Inscription: 4 additional inscriptions and 9 additional seals: 1 poem of Xie Hui 謝徽 (c. 2nd half 14th c.); 1 poem and 1 seal of Gao Qi 高啟 (1336-1374); 1 poem and 1 seal of Lu Zhen 盧貞 (c. late 14th c.); 1 poem of Huang Zai 黃載; 3 seals of Liang Qingbiao 梁清標 (1620-1691); 1 seal of Wang Jiqian [C. C. Wang] 王季遷 (1907-2003); 3 seals unidentified.
Departments: Chinese Art
Accession Number: 1997.96
Credit Line: Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
Exhibitions: 1000 Jahre Chinesische Malerei, Masterpieces of Early Chinese Painting and Calligraphy in American Collections, Chinese Landscape Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 5-December 26, 1954)., Treasures of Chinese Art. J. B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY (January 19-February 21, 1965)., Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. 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)., The Fragrance of Ink: Chinese and Japanese Paintings from the Collection of Mrs. A. Dean Perry. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 19-August 3, 1997).
Rights Statement: CC0