Verdant Peaks in Clouds

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."