Reminiscences of Nanjing : Cliff-Bordered Moon

Maker(s)
Artist: Shitao (1642-1707)
Historical period(s)
Qing dynasty, 1707
Medium
Ink on paper
Dimensions
H x W (image): 23.8 x 19.2 cm (9 3/8 x 7 9/16 in)
Geography
China, Jiangsu province, Yangzhou
Credit Line
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Accession Number
S1987.204.2
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Album, Painting
Type

Album leaf

Keywords
China, moon, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911)
Provenance

To?
Zhang Daqian (1899-1983). [1]

To 1987
Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), New York. [2]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Arthur M. Sackler, New York. [3]

Notes:

[1] See object record.

[2] See note 1.

[3] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Zhang Daqian China, 1899-1983
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler 1913-1987

Label

Shitao was a brilliantly innovative and versatile painter. This image and Washing the Inkstone (see S1987.204.5) are from an album he created in the last year of his life, presenting recollections of experiences in Nanjing as a Buddhist monk. Several of the works in the album hint at approaching death or angst, but others express happy memories.

Shitao was born into a princely line of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), but when he was three, his parents were slaughtered during the dynasty's fall. Shitao was taken to a Buddhist monastery, where he was raised with his true identity concealed. His royal lineage posed a dilemma for him as he matured, because Confucian tradition instructed that he should remain loyal to the defunct dynasty and avoid the new political order. Thus Shitao lived much of his life as a reclusive Buddhist monk, though he often longed for wider social interactions. He eventually used his painting talent as a means to interact with the elite of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).

This painting reveals a new style of direct boldness and blunt brushwork that reflects Shitao's unbridled creative powers; however, his repeated subject choice of walled-in, remote retreats probably arose from feelings of melancholy.
 


Published References
  • Jonathan Hay. Shitao: Painting and Modernity in Early Qing China., reprint. Taibei shi. .
  • Chang Wanli. Shitao shuhua ji [Selected Painting and Calligraphy of Shih-Tao]. multi-volumed, Hong Kong. vol. 4, pl. 95.
  • Richard Edwards. The Paintings of Tao-chi 1641-ca 1720: Catalogue of an Exhibition Held at the Museum of Art, University of Michigan, August 13-September 17, 1967. Exh. cat. Ann Arbor. pp. 44, 94, fig. 19.
  • Richard M. Barnhart. Wintry Forests, Old Trees: Some Landscape Themes in Chinese Painting. Exh. cat. New York. p. 63.
  • Marilyn Fu, Fu Shen. Studies in Connoisseurship: Chinese Paintings from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections in New York, Princeton, and Washington, D.C., 3rd ed. Princeton, 1973. pp. 302-313.
  • et al. Asian Art in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: The Inaugural Gift. Washington, 1987. cat. 206, p. 310.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
SI Usage Statement

Usage Conditions Apply

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery welcome information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

citation | Save this image How to download an image | Request Permission | Terms of Use

Related Objects