The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Waterfowl and Reeds

early 1200s

attributed to Liang Kai

(Chinese, mid-1100s–early 1200s)
China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)
Hanging scroll; ink on silk
Painting only: 23.4 x 23.5 cm (9 3/16 x 9 1/4 in.); Overall with knobs: 108 x 42.4 cm (42 1/2 x 16 11/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1984.42
Location: Not on view

Description

This album leaf now mounted as a hanging scroll is attributed to the 13th-century artist Liang Kai, who served for a time in the Southern Song court as a court painter. In recognition of Liang’s outstanding talent, Emperor Ningzong (reigned 1195–1224) granted him the “Gold Belt,” the highest honor reserved for court painters. The artist, however, left his prestigious position in pursuit of the simple life in Buddhist monasteries.

The so-called one-corner composition (leaving empty space on one side as the artist did here) was popular in both the imperial court and Buddhist monasteries. This distinctive composition allowed the artist to render a sense of space. Liang Kai’s abbreviated style and expressive monochromatic brushwork were often understood to embody ideals of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, and were continued by later Buddhist painters.
  • Tokugawa family; K. Yamanouchi
    ?–1984
    (Kenzaburo Marui, Ōsaka, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1984–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1984.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 2 (April 1985): 163–207. Mentioned: p. 205, no. 154; Reproduced: p. 172 www.jstor.org
  • Nature in Chinese Art: The Birds in Song Dynasty Paintings of the 10-13th Centuries. Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Hangzhou, China (organizer) (November 10, 2024-January 9, 2025).
    Chinese Gallery 240a Rotation – August 2016. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 1, 2016-February 6, 2017).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 119). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 12-July 16, 2003).
    Year in Review for 1984. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 3-May 5, 1985).
  • {{cite web|title=Waterfowl and Reeds|url=false|author=Liang Kai|year=early 1200s|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1984.42