The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 25, 2025

Pure Tones among Hills and Waters

1664
(Chinese, 1596–1673)
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
Handscroll; ink and light color on paper
Painting: 31 x 781.6 cm (12 3/16 x 307 11/16 in.); Overall: 34 x 1194.8 cm (13 3/8 x 470 3/8 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1954.262
Location: not on view

Description

Painted at age 68, this landscape is one of Xiao Yuncong’s most mature works. Extraordinary in its combination of fine details with bold brushstrokes and bluish washes, it is also one of his longest compositions in handscroll format, extending over 23 feet. Throughout his lifetime, Xiao visited Nanjing and Yangzhou, where he met with other painters and literati. Regarded as the founder of the Gushu school (姑孰派) of painting, Xiao painted from nature, and his landscapes are informed by his travels, as well as by his experience as a print designer.
  • Jiang Xun 江恂 [active about 1753–after 1780]
    Xiang Yuan 項源 [active about 1811]
    Qi Zhiliu 祁之鏐 [active about 1858]
    Yu Zhimeng 俞芷盟 [second half of 19th century]
    Wu Changshou 吳昌綬 [1867–1924]
    Zhang Yunzhong 張允中 [1881–1960?]
    Wang Shaoming 汪兆銘 [Wang Jingwei 汪精衛, 1883–1944]
    ?-1954
    (Walter Hochstadter [1914–2007], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1954-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. Chinese Landscape Painting. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1954. Mentioned: p. 156, cat. no. 102; Reproduced: p. 127 archive.org
    Trubner, Henry. A Chinese Landscape by Hsiao Yün-Tsʼung. Oriental Art, New Series, V. 1, No. 3. [Surrey, England, etc.]: [Oriental Art Magazine, Ltd.], 1955. Reproduced: p. 104, fig. 6, 7
    Sirén, Osvald. Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles. New York: Ronald Press, 1956. Mentioned: VII, Lists, 337
    Lee, Sherman E. “Some Problems in Ming and Ch'ing Landscape Painting.” Ars Orientalis, vol. 2, 1957, pp. 471–485. Reproduced: pp. 480-82, pl. 13, fig. 17 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 876 archive.org
    Goepper, Roger. Im Schatten des Wu-Tʻung-Baumes [桐陰畫訣 = Tong yin hua jue]. München: Hirmer, 1959. Reproduced: pl. 26
    Goepper, Roger. 1000 Jahre chinesische Malerei. München: Haus der Kunst, 1959. cat. no. 105
    Goepper, Roger. Chinesische Malerei: die jüngere Tradition. Bern: Hallwag, 1960. p. 182, no. 105
    Lee, Sherman E. Chinese Landscape Painting. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1962. Reproduced: pp. 119-21, no. 95
    Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1964. Reproduced: p. 454, fig. 597
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 268 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 268 archive.org
    Suzuki, Kei 鈴木敬. Chūgoku bijutsu [中國美術 = Chinese art in Western collections]. Tōkyō: Kōdansha, 1972. Reproduced: II, pt. 2, 231, 232, pl. 40
    Rosenzweig, Daphne Lange. "A Landscape Handscroll by Hsiao Yün-ts'ung." Allen Memorial Art Museum Bulletin 32, no. 1 (1974-75): pp. 34-56. Reproduced: p. 47, fig. 17
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 356 archive.org
    Ho, Wai-kam, Sherman E. Lee, Laurence Sickman, and Marc F. Wilson. Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1980. Reproduced: cat. no. 223, pp. 297-298
    Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Reproduced and mentioned: pp. 351–359; fig. 1–3, pp. 354–355
  • When Salt was Gold: Yangzhou, City of Riches and Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 12-November 5, 2023).
    Inspired by Chinese Landscape and Art – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 14, 2017-February 5, 2018).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 242). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 7-July 7, 2015).
    Mountains, Rocks, and Water: Landscape Painting in Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 2-December 13, 1987).
    Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
    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).
    1000 Jahre Chinesische Malerei. Haus der Kunst, Munich, Mùnich, Germany (organizer) (October 16-December 13, 1959).
    Chinese Landscape Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 5-December 26, 1954).
  • {{cite web|title=Pure Tones among Hills and Waters|url=false|author=Xiao Yuncong|year=1664|access-date=25 March 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.262