Collection Online as of April 1, 2023

Scholar Reclining and Watching Rising Clouds, Poem by Wang Wei

1225–75

Part of a set. See all set records

Ma Lin 馬麟

(Chinese, c. 1185-after 1260)

China, Southern Song dynasty

(1127-1279)

Album leaf; ink on silk

Image: 25.1 x 25.3 cm (9 7/8 x 9 15/16 in.); with mat: 33.3 x 40.5 cm (13 1/8 x 15 15/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1961.421.1

Location

not on view

Description

Artists at the Southern Song Painting Academy were often trained in illustrating poetry. Here, Ma Lin responds to a poem composed by Tang poet Wang Wei (701–about 761) and written by emperor Song Lizong: “I walk unto where waters end—And sit down to watch when clouds arise.” While two thirds of the round fan leaf remain empty, Ma Lin paints a scholar who gazes at a vast landscape panorama with a shore shrouded in mist and faint mountain ranges in the distance.

This leaf and the emperor's calligraphy were originally mounted together and must have made a precious imperial gift when bestowed on a worthy official or high dignitary.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Artist's signature: Your subject, Ma Lin. 2 seals on mounting of Chu Sheng-chai (20th c.).

Ma Lin

active mid 1200s

Provenance

?–1961

(Nagatani, Inc., Chicago, IL, sold the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1961–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Lee, Sherman E. Tea Taste in Japanese Art. New York, NY: The Asia House Gallery, dist. by H. Abrams, 1963. Mentioned: cat. no. 1, p. 94; Reproduced: cat. no. 1, p. 13

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 259 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. 259 archive.org

Wang, Chi-chʻien. Album Leaves from the Sung and Yuan Dynasties: [Exhibition], March 26 Through May 30, 1970. New York: The Gallery [China House Gallery], 1970. Reproduced: cat. no.35

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 342 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: pp. 72-73, cat. no. 57

Harrist, Robert E. Jr. "'Watching Clouds Rise': A Tang Dynasty Couplet and Its Illustration in Song Painting." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Vol. 78, No. 7 (Nov., 1991), pp. 301-323. Reproduced: pp. 301-323, fig. 2 www.jstor.org

Cahill, James. The Lyric Journey: Poetic Painting in China and Japan. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Univ. Press, 1996. Reproduced: p. 30, no. 1.23

Murck, Alfreda. Poetry and Painting in Song China: The Subtle Art of Dissent. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Asia Center for the Harvard-Yenching Institute, 2000. Reproduced: p. 200, fig. 46

Li, Huishu. Exquisite Moments: West Lake & Southern Song Art. New York, NY: China Institute Gallery, China Institute: Distributed by Art Media Resources, Ltd., 2001. Reproduced: pp. 104-105, cat. no. 23

Exhibition history

Asia House Gallery, New York, 1963: Lee, Tea Taste, cat. no. 1.

The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981: Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting, cat. no. 57, p. 72.

The Cleveland Museum of Art; Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 120); July 22 - October 26, 2003.

Year in Review - 1962. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 24-November 25, 1962).

Tea Taste in Japanese Art. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (February 20-April 21, 1963).

Wang Chi-ch'ien, Album Leaves from the Sung and Yuan Dynasties. China House Gallery (organizer) (March 26-May 30, 1970).

The Colors of Ink. Asia House Galleries (January 10-March 3, 1974); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 9-May 12, 1974).

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).

Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).

Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 17, 1991-January 5, 1992).

West Lake and the Mapping of Southern Song Art. China Institute Gallery, New York, NY (organizer) (September 13-December 9, 2001).

Power and Possession: Chinese Calligraphy and Inscribed Objects – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 13, 2018-February 3, 2019).