id: 138542
accession number: 1962.43
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1962.43
updated: 2025-05-29 11:07:45.945000
Daoist Retreat in Mountain and Stream (Landscape after Ni Zan [1301–1374]), 1567. Lu Zhi (Chinese, 1496–1576). Hanging scroll; ink on paper; overall: 109.1 x 45.8 cm (42 15/16 x 18 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1962.43
title: Daoist Retreat in Mountain and Stream (Landscape after Ni Zan [1301–1374])
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1567
creation date earliest: 1567
creation date latest: 1567
current location:
creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
copyright:
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culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
technique: hanging scroll; ink on paper
department: Chinese Art
collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
type: Painting
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Lu Zhi (Chinese, 1496–1576) - artist
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measurements: Overall: 109.1 x 45.8 cm (42 15/16 x 18 1/16 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
inscription: Artist's inscription, signature, and 3 seals:
In my youthful days I liked to imitate the ink method of Yün-lin [Ni Tsan]. Mr. Wen, the academician [Wen Cheng-ming], remarked that I barely succeeded in achieving some resemblance. He once honored me with the inscription "lofty and imperturbable indeed was the personality of Ni Yü [Ni, the Odd]. Pale ink and blue smoke were formed by his scribbling brush. His surviving works have become so rare in the last two hundred years; only Pao-shan [Lu Chih] carries on his true tradition." In my older years, having to comply with frequent requests for paintings, my brushwork has become stronger than before and I thought to myself that I may have surpassed the Old Master. In the ting-mou year of the Lung-ch'ing era [1567] a friend brought a small painting [by Ni Tsan] and showed it to me in the mountains. I studied and enjoyed it for a long time, then realized that I was actually inferior. This gave me second thoughts about my earlier style, so I selected a piece of old window paper and did this painting in imitation. My friend was kind enough to say that it was truly a quick and close resemblance. I then wrote a colophon and presented the painting to him. My poem says:
High mountains and distant waters are the thoughts coming from the lute;
The drunken leaves and the sparse woods are merely flowers in the mirror.
This idea, I'm sure, will be understood by Tzu-ch'i, one who appreciates my art,
It is for him that I have painted on thin paper with light touches,
The cloudy color of an autumn evening.
This is the winter solstice of the same year. By then, Pao-shan, Mr. Lu, was already over seventy years of age. Could it be that one's brush also gets old together with one's age, as the saying goes. I put down my brush with a laugh. [2 seals] Lu Shu-p'ing shih, Pao-shan tzu. [seal, bottom left corner] Lu Chih shu-p'ing. trans. WKH
6 additional seals of Chu Ching-hou (n.d.).
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Year in Review - 1962
opening date: 1962-10-24T04:00:00
Year in Review - 1962. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 24-November 25, 1962).
title: Fifteen Chinese Paintings from the Cleveland Museum of Art
opening date: 1964-10-09T04:00:00
Fifteen Chinese Paintings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA (organizer) (October 9-28, 1964).
title: The Colors of Ink
opening date: 1974-01-10T04:00:00
The Colors of Ink. Asia House Galleries (January 10-March 3, 1974).
title: Visions of Landscape: East and West
opening date: 1982-02-17T05:00:00
Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* {'description': 'Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1956: Tseng, Loan Exhibition, cat. no. 21.', 'opening_date': '1956-01-01T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass., 1964: Fifteen Chinese Paintings from the Cleveland Museum of Art, no catalogue.', 'opening_date': '1964-01-01T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Asia House Gallery, New York, 1974: Lee, Colors of Ink, cat. no. 31.', 'opening_date': '1974-01-01T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981: Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting, cat. no. 183, p. 234-235.', 'opening_date': '1981-01-01T00:00:00'}
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PROVENANCE
Chu Ching-hou
date:
footnotes:
citations:
Frank Caro
date:
footnotes:
citations:
Chu Ching-hou; Frank Caro
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footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1962.43/1962.43_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1962.43/1962.43_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1962.43/1962.43_full.tif