Object: Verdant Peaks in Clouds F1919.147

Classification: Painting

Maker(s): Artist: Formerly attributed to Mi Fu (傳)米芾 (1052-1107), Style of Gao Kegong (1248-1310)

Historical period(s): Ming dynasty, 16th century?

Object Date: 16th century?

Medium: Ink and color on silk

Dimension(s): H x W (image): 115 x 59.2 cm (45 1/4 x 23 5/16 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1919.147

Provenance: To 1919
You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1919 [1]

1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi in 1919 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 1342, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. This object exhibits seals, colophons, or inscriptions that could provide additional information regarding the object’s history; see Curatorial Remarks in the object record for further details.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous owner(s): You Xiaoxi 游篠溪 (C.L. Freer source) (late 19th-early 20th century)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Curatorial Remarks

1. Purchased from Seaouke Yue of Shanghai. For price, see L. 1342, original Kakemono and Makimono List. 2. (Undated folder sheet note) Original attribution: Mi Fei [Chn]. See further, S.I. 718, Appendix IX and Envelope file. (see par. 5) 3. (Ma Su, 1919) Label reads: Cloud-covered peaks, rising in tiers--by Mi Fei of the Sung period. Large seal on upper center of painting reads: Imperial precious seal of [Chn] Ch'eng-hua of the Ming dynasty. Lower right corner seal belongs to a recent collector and is therefore unimportant. 4. (J.E.Lodge, 1921) A poor thing. I am inclined to think it a fake--though not a modern one, perhaps. 5. (H.E. Buckman, 1963) The Envelope file contained no further information, and has now been destroyed. 6. (J.F. Cahill, 1965) The attribution should be changed from: "Period Uncertain" to: "Ming-Ch'ing, 16th/17th century." 7. (Fu Shen, 1980--Exhibition Label) The Mi Fu style was regarded as an acceptable variant to orthodox styles emphasizing brushwork, for its hallmark was the use of wet ink in the form of dots and washes to suggest landscape forms. The subject of paintings in the Mi style, furthermore, was usually a mountain in clouds or after rain (see panel 08.171 Mountains In Mist). The Yuan artist Kao K'o-kung followed and modified the Mi style, and his image became closely linked with Mi's. Kao K'o-kung seems to have favored the placement of the horizontal dots along the silhouette of each peak. This painting portrays a lone scholar reading in a simple hut in a groove of trees at the foot of the mountain peaks that loom through a thick layer of clouds. The large seal at the top of the work is a forgery of the imperial seal of the Ch'eng-hua Emperor (r. 1465-1487), added at a later date. Change from Ming-Ch'ing, 16th/17th century; to Ming dynasty, probably 16th century. Add Verdant Peaks in Clouds; and Style of Mi Fu (1051-1107) or Kao K'o-kung (1248-1310). 8. (Stephen Allee, August 1996) Medium changed from "Ink and tint" to "Ink and color on silk."

Published References: Published References are currently unavailable.

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Verdant Peaks in Clouds

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