The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 29, 2023

Landscape in the Style of Dong Yuan and Juran

仿董巨山水圖

c. 1650

Gong Xian 龔賢

(Chinese, 1599–1689)

China, Qing dynasty

(1644-1911)

Hanging scroll, ink with white pigment on silk

Image: 216.6 x 57.3 cm (85 1/4 x 22 9/16 in.); Overall: 285.8 x 75.5 cm (112 1/2 x 29 3/4 in.); with knobs: 258.8 x 90.1 cm (101 7/8 x 35 1/2 in.)

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1969.123

Location

not on view

Description

Towering peaks and unfolding ranges are piled up and overlaid with layer after layer of brushwork to give an overall dense, dark, and even melancholic effect. Gong Xian created a personal style of landscape, which departed greatly from his models Dong Yuan and Juran. The tension between tradition and individuality had been a topic of interest for the Chinese artist. As Gong Xian writes in his inscription: "Painters of later periods may be known for their natural talents or praised for their observance of established traditions. . . . However, those who indulge in showing off their talent will deviate from the tradition, while those who adhere to tradition will alienate themselves from the Dao. The supreme Dao is inexplicable in words. . . ."

Inscriptions

Inscription

畫家董巨，實開南宗。既無剛根之氣，復無刻畫之跡。後之作者或以才見，或以法稱。唯董巨則幾乎道矣。然逞才則離法，泥法則叛道。至道無可道。說者謂即歛才就法之謂道。問之董巨，而董巨不知，忽乎微矣。此幅余二十年前舊作。藏之新安吳氏。吳君晉明寶之若家珍。後携之金陵。命余題識。余因與晉明論畫及此，并紀之。非敢曰此效法董巨而有得焉者也。 庚戌冬杪半畝居人龔賢。 [印]龔半千; 野遺賢; [左下]龔賢; [上]可能另有龔賢一印。

Inscription Translation

Artist's inscription, signature, and 4 seals: In truth, it was masters like Dong Yuan and Juran who created the Southern school. [In their works], we observe neither the brute and unyielding force, nor traces of labored delineation. Later artists may be known for their talents or for their grasp of methods. Only Dong Yuan and Juran could approximate the Way [or Dao]. For those who allow talent to have its way may depart from the methods; whereas those who abide by methods may end up betraying the Way. There are those who claim that one may gain the Way by suppressing their talents while adhering to the methods. If we were to pose this question to Dong Yuan and Juran, they would not know what to say. How ironic! I painted this work twenty years ago. It was in the collection of Mr. Wu of Xin’an. Mr. Wu, whose name is Jinming, treasured it like a family heirloom. Later, he brought it to Jinling and asked me to inscribe it. Thereupon I discussed the art of painting with him and recorded our conversation here. I dare not say that I was emulating Dong and Ju and thereby gained insights. At the end of winter of the gengxu year [1670]. Ban mu ju ren, Gong Xian. [2 seals] Gong Banqian; Yeyi Xian. [seal, lower left corner] Gong Xian. [seal above, undecipherable, but probably a seal of Gong Xian].

Inscription

2 additional seals of Cheng Qi 程琦 (1911-1988)

Provenance
c. 1650–at least c. 1670
Wu Jinming 吳晉明 [17th century], Xin’an
Cheng Qi 程琦 [1911–1988], to his son, Stephen O. K. Chen
?–1969
(Stephen O. K. Chen [20th century], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1969–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Cahill, James. "The Early Styles of Kung Hsien." Oriental Art XVI, no. 1 (Spring 1970), pp. 51-71. Reproduced: p. 61, fig. 17
Cheng, Qi 程琦. Xuanhuitang shuhua lu [萱暉堂書畫錄 = Paintings and calligraphy in the collection of Hsüan-hui-tʻang]. Hong Kong: Xuanhuitang, 1972. pp. 138(a)-138(b)
Lee, Sherman. “To See Big within Small: Hsiao-Chung-Chien-Ta.” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 114, no. 830, 1972, pp. 314–312. Reproduced: p. 322, fig. 66 www.jstor.org
Suzuki, Kei 鈴木敬, and Terukazu Akiyama 秋山光和. Chūgoku bijutsu [中国美術. 卷1, 卷2, 絵画 = Chinese art in western collections. v. 1-2]. Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1973. Reproduced: II, pt. 2, p. 233, color pl. 43
Lee, Sherman Emery, and James Robinson. The Colors of Ink: Chinese Paintings and Related Ceramics from the Cleveland Museum of Art. New York: Asia Society; distributed by New York Graphic Society, 1974. cat. no. 40
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 357 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. Mentioned: cat. no. 213, pp. 278-279
Shi, Shouqian 石守謙. Cong feng ge dao hua yi: fan si Zhongguo mei shu shi 從風格到畫意: 反思中國美術史. Taibei: Shi tou chu ban, 2010. p. 316, fig. 204
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: pp. 366-373, and fig. 1 (detail)
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. Mentioned: pp. 366, 368
Exhibition history

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).

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 119). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 16-October 28, 2003).

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 242). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 21, 2013-July 28, 2014).

Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 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).

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

Mountains, Rocks, and Water: Landscape Painting in Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 2-December 13, 1987).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.123