The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Playing the Qin in a Secluded Valley

Playing the Qin in a Secluded Valley

1548

imitator of Wen Zhengming

(Chinese, 1470–1559)
China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
hanging scroll, ink and light color on paper
Overall: 132 x 50.5 cm (51 15/16 x 19 7/8 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1969.60
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

In paintings, Chinese literati often play the instrument in a landscape setting, as the sound of the qin symbolizes harmony between man and nature.

Description

The poem inscribed in this painting reads: "Ten thousand layered lofty mountains are presented to the cultivated eye, A thousand feet of cascading falls cleanse the dusty heart. May the harmonies of my red-stringed tune Be the humble answer to the pine wind's ancient song." Different versions of this painting exist. Scholars have suggested that the solid renderings of the rock masses and the volumetric mountain configurations as seen here appear more characteristic of Lu Zhi 陸治 (1496–1576), Wen Zhengming's pupil.
  • Liang Qingbiao 梁清標 [1620–1691]
    Lu Xinyuan 陸心源 [1834–1894]
    Cheng Qi 程琦 [1911–1988]
    ?-1969
    (Jean-Pierre Dubosc [1904–1988], Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1969-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lu, Xinyuan 陸心源. Rang li guan guo yan lu 穰梨館過眼錄. Wuxing: Lu shi, 1891 ch. 17, pp. 13(b)-14(a)
    Edwards, Richard. The Art of Wen Cheng-Ming (1470-1559). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, 1976. cat. no. XLV
    Oertling, Sewall Jerome. Ting Yün-Pʼeng: A Chinese Artist in the Late Ming Dynasty. PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1980. Mentioned: pp. 308, 310
    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. 171, pp. 216-217
    Greene, David B. How to Respond to Strangeness in Art: Four Studies in the Unfamiliar. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 2006. Reproduced: fig. 3.9
    Coleman, Patrick, ed. The Art of Music. San Diego: San Diego Museum of Art, 2015. Reproduced: p. 154, plate 130
    Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Reproduced: pp. 270-278
  • Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 242). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 21, 2013 - July 28, 2014).
    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); The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (December 3, 1982-February 28, 1983).
    The Art of Wen Cheng-ming. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI (January 25-February 29, 1976); Asia House Gallery, New York, NY (April 7-June 7, 1976).
    Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).
  • {{cite web|title=Playing the Qin in a Secluded Valley|url=false|author=Wen Zhengming|year=1548|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.60