The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 22, 2023

A Scholar's Retreat amid Autumn Trees

秋林書舍圖

c. 1403

Wang Fu 王紱

(Chinese, 1362–1416)

China, Ming dynasty

(1368–1644)

Hanging scroll, ink on paper

Image: 58.7 x 27.2 cm (23 1/8 x 10 11/16 in.); Overall: 82.3 x 40 cm (32 3/8 x 15 3/4 in.)

Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1997.98

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Wang Fu painted this going-away present and 3 friends added poems wishing the best for their departing friend Gongyi.

Inscriptions

Inscription

青山疎雨晩來晴，林木蕭條爽氣生。/ 記得當年齋館夜，一窗燈火讀書聲。/ 公義求寫秋林書舍，復徵題，遂賦此。王紱 [印] 孟端; 友石生; 破研齋

Inscription Translation

Artist's inscription, signature, and 3 seals: Blue hills and sparse rain: the weather is clearing up in the evening./ Trees in the forest are withering, with an accompanying refreshing air./ Do you not recall the night we spent together in a lodge for ritual cleansing?/ The sound of reading seeped through the window lit by candle lights. Gongyi requested that I paint this Scholar’s Retreat amid Autumn Forest. In addition, he asked me for a written comment. I complied. Wang Fu. [seals] Mengduan; Po yan zhai; You shi sheng.

Inscription

飛飛木葉亂辭枝，裊裊涼風入袂時。/ 床上詩書勤課子，夜深窗下有吾伊。

Inscription Translation

1 poem and 1 seal of Shao Sheng 邵昇 (1491-1534) of Renhe 仁和, juren of 1507: Fly, fly the leaves parting from branches./ Tender is the breeze that enters the sleeves./ Upon the bed, the piled-up classics are for educating the young./ Nightly, the sound of chanting can be heard through the window.

Inscription

林僻茅齋靜，秋清露氣寒。/ 閑居讀書者，不為要求官。

Inscription Translation

1 poem and 1 seal of Han Yi 韓奕 (1334–1406) from Suzhou: The forest is isolated and the thatched cottage is quiet./ Autumn is clear and the dewdrops chill the air./ He who leads a life of leisure is immersed in reading./ He does so without aiming for an official post.

Inscription

碧樹宵含露氣涼，青燈孤照讀書床。/ 十年勤苦何須論，一日聲名達帝郷。

Inscription Translation

1 poem and 2 seals of Qian Ji 錢驥 (second half of 14th–early 15th century) from Shanghai: In the evening, the green trees are chilled by the dewdrops./ A cool lamp light shines on a solitary figure on the bed reading./ Ten years of such struggles are beside the point./ For one day your fame will reach the imperial domain.

Inscription

溪山遠帶暮雲平，幾處長林映晩晴。/ 瑟瑟秋聲來樹杪，寒燈明滅月三更。

Inscription Translation

1 poem and 1 seal of Mianyi 愛新覺羅綿億 (皇三孫, the 3rd imperial grandson of the Qianlong Emperor): Streams and hills level the evening mist./ Rows of trees reflect the evening sun./ “Sa, sa” are the autumn sounds sweeping through the treetops./ A chilling lamp and its blinking light echo the moon on the third watch.

Inscription

5 seals of the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736-95); 1 seal of Tang Xun (dates unknown); 2 seals of He Zheng 何澂 (d. 1888); 3 seals of Cheng Qi 程琦 (1911–1988); 2 seals of Li Guochao 李國超 (20th century); 2 seals unidentified.

Provenance
Yao Jiheng 姚際恒 [1647–about 1714]
Qing imperial collection (seals of Emperor Qianlong, r. 1736–1795)
Aisin-Gioro Mianyi 愛新覺羅綿億 [1764–1815]
He Zheng 何澂 [d. about 1888]
Nagao Uzan 長尾雨山 [1864–1942], Kyoto, Japan
Cheng Qi 程琦 [1911–1988]
?-1997
Mr. A. Dean Perry [1909-1987] and Mrs. Helen Wade Greene Perry [1911-1996], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1997-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Seals of Chinese Painters and Collectors of the Ming and Ch'ing Periods 640
Yao, Jiheng 姚際恒 . Hao gu tang jia cang shu hua ji 好古堂家藏書畫記. Taipei: Yi wen yin shu guan 藝文印書館, 1964. (preface dated 1699) ch. 2, p. 88
Harada, Kinjirō 原田謹次郎. Nihon genzai Shina meiga mokuroku 日本現在支那名畫目錄. Tōkyō: Ōtsuka Kōgeisha, 1938. p. 128
Lee, Sherman E., and Wai-kam Ho. Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yüan Dynasty, 1279-1368. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art; [distributed by the Press of Case Western Reserve University], 1968. cat. no. 266
Ishikawa, Jun 石川淳, Yoshitaka Iriya 入矢義高, Yūjirō Nakata 中田勇次郎, and Hironobu Kohara 古原宏伸. Kō Kōbō, Gei San, Ō Mō, Go Chin [黄公望, 倪瓚, 王蒙, 呉鎮]. Tōkyō: Chūō Kōronsha, 1979. Reproduced: p. 178, pl. 87
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. 117, p. 142
Suzuki, Kei 鈴木敬. Chugoku kaiga shi [中國繪畫史 = A History of Chinese Painting]. Tōkyō: Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1981. Reproduced: p. 136, no. 130
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: #A23-005, p. I-286
Guo li gu gong bo wu yuan 國立故宮博物院. Hai wai yi zhen. Zai xu 海外遺珎. 繪畫. 再續. Taipei: Guo li gu gong bo wu yuan, 1990. Reproduced: p. 78
Li, Huishu. Exquisite Moments: West Lake & Southern Song Art. New York, NY: China Institute Gallery, China Institute, 2001. Reproduced: cat. no. 7, pp. 72-73
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. 207-210
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: p. 208
Exhibition history

Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yüan Dynasty, 1279-1368. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 1-November 24, 1968).

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).

The Fragrance of Ink: Chinese and Japanese Paintings from the Collection of Mrs. A. Dean Perry. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 19-August 3, 1997).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1997.98