Artwork Page for Baoyang Lake

Details / Information for Baoyang Lake

Series Title: Eighteen Views of Huzhou, 湖州十八景圖

Baoyang Lake

包陽湖

c. 1588

Song Xu 宋旭

(Chinese, 1525-c. 1606)
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Culture
China, Jiaxing, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Medium
Album leaf; ink and color on silk
Measurements
Sheet: 26.4 x 28.4 cm (10 3/8 x 11 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 1998.78.14
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
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Description

This album of landscape paintings depicts the famous scenic areas located in and around the city of Wuxing in southeastern China. These places were all known for their natural beauty, but in addition, a number were distinguished by their links to eminent historical figures and events. The artist, Song Xu, was not a native of Wuxing, but must have visited it when he accepted the commission, for he carefully depicted all eighteen views and wrote comments on each of them.

Song's gazetteer-like notation on this leaf reads:
Baoyang Lake: Several li (Chinese mile) from here to the east, one can exit through Lake Tai, which is quite near. Just a few li to the north is the township of Xiangshan. Having arrived there, one may want to cross over the border to the city of Yixing.
An ink and color painting on silk in pale tones depicts a serene landscape with rounded mountains and expansive waterways. In the foreground, figures row small boats past clusters of spindly trees and dwellings. Parallel, horizontal brushstrokes define the vast wetlands, while dark dots mark the mountain ridges. Vertical columns of Chinese calligraphy and two red seals feature in the upper right. The composition emphasizes the horizontal reach of the water.

Baoyang Lake

c. 1588

Song Xu

(Chinese, 1525-c. 1606)
China, Jiaxing, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

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