The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 23, 2023

Drinking in the Moonlight

舉杯邀月圖

late 1100s–early 1200s

Ma Yuan

(Chinese, c. 1150-after 1255)

China, Southern Song dynasty

(1127-1279)

Album leaf; ink on silk

Painting: 24.5 x 25 cm (9 5/8 x 9 13/16 in.); Overall: 67.6 x 39.2 cm (26 5/8 x 15 7/16 in.)

Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1997.89

Location

not on view

Description

In the lower left corner, a figure leans back to gaze at the moon appearing between mountain peaks in the upper right. On the rocky deserted platform beneath a cliff, a piece of paper with calligraphy is spread out. A brush and ink stick rest on a stand, ink stone and water dropper placed aside.

Asymmetrical compositions are characteristic of the court artist Ma Yuan and his followers. The diagonal division into solid land mass and open space gave rise to his nickname “One-corner Ma.”

Inscriptions

Inscription

1-1/2 seals: half-seal of Ming imperial collection (used 1372–84); 1 unidentified.

Provenance
Cheng Qi 程琦 [1911–1988]
C. C. Wang 王季遷 [1907–2003], New York, NY 1
by 1980–1997
Mrs. A. Dean [Helen Wade Greene] Perry [1911–1996], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1997–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Provenance Footnotes

1 The order of its early 20th century provenance is unclear. The Eight Dynasties catalogue (1980) suggests that the painting went from Cheng Qi to the Perry collection. The more recent publication Yang (2010), however, includes C.C. Wang in the ownership history.

K. Yang (2010), p. 307, no. 18: "Recent provenance: Cheng Qi 程琦 (20th century; a dealer in Japan); C.C. Wang."
Ho, Lee, et al. (1980), p. 71, cat. no. 53: "Recent provenance: Ch'eng Ch'i. Intended gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. Dean Perry."
Citations
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. Referenced: cat. no. 53, p. 71
Suzuki, Kei 鈴木敬. Chūgoku kaiga sōgō zuroku [中國繪畫總合圖錄 = Comprehensive Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Paintings], 第 1卷. アメリカ·カナダ篇 [= vol. 1 American and Canadian collections]. Tōkyō: Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppankai, 1982. Reproduced: #A22-006, p. I-260
Li, Huishu. Exquisite Moments: West Lake & Southern Song Art. New York: China Institute Gallery, China Institute: Distributed by Art Media Resources, Ltd., 2001. no. 7
Steuber, Jason. China: 3000 Years of Art and Literature. New York: Welcome Books, 2007. Reproduced: p. 77
Yang, Kathleen 楊凱琳, and Chi-chʻien Wang 王季遷. Through a Chinese connoisseur's eye: private notes of C.C. Wang 王季遷讀書筆記. Beijing: Zhong hua shu ju, 2010. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 307, fig. 18
Edwards, Richard. The Heart of Ma Yuan: The Search for a Southern Song Aesthetic. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2011. Reproduced: Pg. 240, Fig. 8.6; xi, pl.51
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. 72-75
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).

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).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1997.89