The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Three Horses and Four Grooms

Three Horses and Four Grooms

c. 1320s
(Chinese, 1254–1328)
China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)
handscroll, ink and color on silk
Painting: 28.5 x 137.5 cm (11 1/4 x 54 1/8 in.); Overall: 29.2 x 556.4 cm (11 1/2 x 219 1/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1960.181
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Only the elegant first horse with a white blaze is accompanied by two grooms, as if its lightning speed required extra supervision.

Description

Ren Renfa's horse images are elegant in appearance and vigorous in spirit. His work attracted not only Chinese scholars but also the Mongols at the imperial court. Inspired by the contemporary scholarly interest in restoring a sense of antiquity in art—an artistic direction led by Zhao Mengfu that exerted a great impact in the Yuan art scene—Ren Renfa, like Zhao Mengfu, modeled his depictions of horses after the Song master Li Gonglin. Another key style component that Ren introduced to this genre was a revival of the Tang classical tradition. The refined color treatment of the horses as seen here was derived from the Tang master Han Gan.
  • 1500s
    Gui Shanquan 桂山泉 [1500s]
    second half of the 1600s
    Liang Qingbiao 梁清標 [1620–1691]
    1736-1911
    Qing imperial collection (seals of Emperors Qianlong, r. 1736–1795, Jiaqing, r. 1796–1820, and Xuantong, r. 1909–1911), Beijing, China
    after 1911-before 1960
    Yu Xiezhong 余協中 [1900s]
    ?-1960
    (Frank Caro [1904-1980], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1960-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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    Lee, Sherman E. and Wai-Kam Ho. “Three Horses and Four Grooms.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 48, no. 4, 1961, pp. 66–71. Reproduced and Mentioned: pp. 66-71 www.jstor.org
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    Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1964. Reproduced: p. 405, fig. 536
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    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 262 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 346 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. 94, p. 115
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    McCausland, Shane. Zhao Mengfu: Calligraphy and Painting for Khubilai's China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2011. Reproduced: pp. 152-153, fig 2.18
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  • Galloping through Dynasties: Decoding Chinese Horse Painting. The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (organizer) (October 7, 2022-January 1, 2023) https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions/galloping-through-dynasties/.
    Silent Poetry: Masterworks of Chinese Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 14, 2015-April 24, 2016).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 242). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 21, 2013-July 28, 2014).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 120). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 11-July 13, 2004).
    Power and Virtue: Images of Horses in Chinese Art. China Institute Gallery (organizer) (September 13-December 13, 1997).
    Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 11-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 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).
    Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yüan Dynasty, 1279-1368. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 1-November 24, 1968)
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  • {{cite web|title=Three Horses and Four Grooms|url=false|author=Ren Renfa|year=c. 1320s|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1960.181