Chinese Paintings 12th century - 20th century
Processed by Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive staff; machine-readable
finding aid created by Guenter Waibel
© 2002
The Regents of the University of California, Berkeley. All rights reserved.
Note
Arts and Humanities--Art--Painting
Geographical (By Place)--Asia
Chinese Paintings 12th century - 20th century
Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA- Processed by:
- Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive staff
- Date Completed:
- 9/23/2002
- Encoded by:
- Guenter Waibel
© 2002 The Regents of the University of California, Berkeley. All rights reserved.
Title: Chinese Paintings
Date (inclusive): 12th century - 20th
century
Repository:
Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Berkeley, CA 94720
Language:
English.
This collection is open for research.
Copyright resides with the Regents of the University of California. For permission to
reproduce images from the collection of the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum,
please address inquiries to Rights and Reproductions, fax number: 510-642-4889.
[Identification of item], Chinese Paintings Collection, Berkeley Art Museum, University
of California, Berkeley.
Of the approximately 150 Chinese paintings in this collection guide, the majority were
originally collected by UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus James Cahill and the Cahill family.
The Cahill family collections, known historically as the Ching Yüan Chai Collection,
are arguably among the finest in the western United States, representing virtually every
period of Chinese painting over the last 900 years. The collections consist of works from
the Sung, Yüan, Ming, and Ch'ing dynasties, including major figure paintings and
bird-and-flower paintings. The greatest strength, however, is landscape paintings.
Considered the highest category of painting in China, the landscape embodies the ideals of
the Confucian scholar. This is the area of Chinese art in which we find the most daring
experiments, the greatest developments, and the most intense art historical scrutiny.
Professor Cahill began collecting Chinese paintings in 1955 while on a Fulbright fellowship
in Japan, where he was completing his dissertation on fourteenth-century (Yüan)
painting. It was there that a noted Japanese scholar bestowed the name Ching Yüan Chai,
which roughly translates as "Studio of One Who Is Looking Intently at the Yüan
Dynasty." Throughout his long teaching career James Cahill used these collections as a means
of gaining a better personal understanding of art, as an opportunity to explore areas of
connoisseurship, and as a tool for teaching others these same disciplines. For Cahill,
collecting meaningfully enriched the scope and depth of his comprehension of the intricacies
of Chinese painting and culture. Cahill has remarked, "collecting has deepened my
understanding of Chinese painting…forcing me to make judgments of quality and
authenticity." Professor Cahill has likened his pursuit of Chinese paintings to the
eleventh-century poet Sun Tung-p'o's allusion:
"It is like clouds and mists passing before my eyes, or the songs of birds striking my
ears. How could I help but derive joy from my contact with these things? But when they are
gone, I think no more about them. In this way, these two things [painting and calligraphy]
are a constant pleasure to me, but not an affliction."
-- Su Tung-p'o, eleventh-century statesman, poet, and connoisseur, on collecting.
Translation by James Cahill
Professor Cahill and family members, through gift and purchase, have passed on key works
from their collections to the university at which he taught for over thirty years. These
paintings will remain at Berkeley for generations of students to examine and study, and
experience the joy of working with actual masterworks of art.
The descriptive notes accompanying the artworks included in the Collection Guide largely
carry the familiar "voice" of James Cahill, Professor Emeritus at UC Berkeley, who has
generously commented on the artwork from the perspective of connoisseurship, collecting, and
teaching. Additional biographical and art historical comments are presented in order to
place the paintings in historical context. These comments are provided by Julia M. White,
Curator of Asian Art at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, and Guest Curator of the UC Berkeley
Art Museum Exhibition Masterworks of Chinese Painting: In Pursuit of Mists and Clouds.
Wade-Giles, the first name cited in each item's record in the Collection Guide, is a system
of transliteration that was developed in the early part of the 20th century. Pinyin, the
second name, in parentheses, is the same character utilizing a system of transliteration of
Chinese characters developed in the People's Republic of China in the later part of the
20th
century.
The "t" and "h" preceding the descriptive notes stand for tz'u (zi) the artist's style name
and hao (hao) the artist's pen name. Chinese artists frequently sign their works with these
alternate names.
Lucinda Barnes
Senior Curator for Collections
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
scroll paintings
Subjects and Indexing Terms
China
Landscape Paintings
Fisherman Returning on a Wintery Day late 15 - early 16 century A.D. 1969.43
Creator/Collector:
Chiang Sung
Physical Description:
Painting
ink on silk
China
h 53 x w 18 -1/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of William S. Picher and Walter C. Goodman in honor of James Cahill
Waterfall on Mt. Lu 17 century A.D. 1971.15
Creator/Collector:
Sheng, Mao-yeh
Physical Description:
Painting
ink and color on silk
China
h 81 -1/2 x w 39 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Museum Purchase
Landscape 17 century A.D. 1971.69
Creator/Collector:
Kung Hsien (Gong Xian)
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink on satin
China
h 13 -7/8 x w 19 -5/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Roger S. Spang
Old Man Painting Screen in House, Boy Servant early 17 century A.D. 1971.75
Creator/Collector:
Unknown; School of Ch'in Ying
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and colors on
silk
China
h 43 -1/4 x w 19 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Mrs. Elizabeth Hay Bechtel
Landscape 19 century A.D. 1973.38
Creator/Collector:
Shen Shichong (Shen Shih-Ch'ung?)
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and color on
silk
China
h 61 -1/2 x w 26 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Roger S. Spang
Landscape with Houses, Figures and Goats 1719 1973.41
Creator/Collector:
Yuan Chiang
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and colors on
silk
China
h 62 -3/4 x w 30 -5/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Dr. Eugene C. Gaenslen, Jr.
Winter Landscape with Man in House n.d. 1975.32
Creator/Collector:
Sung, Lo (attributed to)
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 48 -3/4 x w 21 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Dr. Eugene C. Gaenslen, Jr.
Landscape with Two Men in a Boat 17 century A.D. 1980.16
Creator/Collector:
Hsiang Sheng-mo
Physical Description:
Painting
ink and color on paper
China
h 26 -1/4 x w 12 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Acquired by exchange from C. C. Wang
Trees by a River 17 century A.D. 1980.18
Creator/Collector:
Wang Chien-chang
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink on silk
China
h 54 -3/4 x w 21 -7/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of James and Dorothy Cahill
Landscape with Figures 17 century A.D. 1980.37
Creator/Collector:
Fan Ch'i ( Fan Qi)
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and light colors on
silk
China
h 71 -1/2 x w 32 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Dr. Roger Spang
Solitary Angler on Wintry Lake 1659 1980.42.14
Creator/Collector:
Lan Ying
Physical Description:
Painting
fan: ink and color on paper, wood
China
h 8 -3/4 x w 19 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Untitled 19 century A.D. 1980.42.16
Creator/Collector:
Li, Chü-p'ing
Physical Description:
Painting
mounted fan: ink and colors on
paper
China
h 11 -7/8 x w 24 -3/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Landscape 1579 1980.42.1
Creator/Collector:
Chang Hung
Physical Description:
Painting
ink on silk
China
h 9 -1/4 x w 7 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Landscape 1980.42.20
Creator/Collector:
Tai Hsi
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 47 x w 24 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Figures in Landscape 16 century A.D. 1980.42.23
Creator/Collector:
Unknown
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink on silk
China
h 21 -13/16 x w 29 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Landscape with Taoist Immortals 18 century A.D. 1980.42.2
Creator/Collector:
Chang Pei
Physical Description:
Painting
ink on silk
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Figures in Garden late 17 - early 18 century A.D. 1980.42.8
Creator/Collector:
Hsiao Ch'en
Physical Description:
Painting
Fan mounted as hanging scroll: ink and color
on gold paper
China
h 9 x w 20 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Pine, Rock and Mushroom 1878 1980.42.9
Creator/Collector:
Hu Yuan
Physical Description:
Painting
ink and color on paper
China
h 52 x w 16 -5/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
River Landscape 18 century A.D. 1983.24.3
Creator/Collector:
Ma Jui
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink on silk;
China
h 50 -1/2 x w 20 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Dr. Eugene C. Gaenslen, Jr.
Landscape with Two Seated Scholars (in the manner of Chiang Sung) 1550 1983.24.4
Creator/Collector:
Unknown; Che School artist.
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink on silk
China
h 60 x w 35 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Dr. Eugene C. Gaenslen, Jr.
Clearing Sky in Autumn over Misty Peaks 1613 1983.9
Creator/Collector:
Chao Tso
Physical Description:
Painting
ink on paper
China
h 52 x w 24 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchased with the aid of funds from Dr. and Mrs. Marvin L. Gordon
Landscape of a Poem 1844 1986.6
Creator/Collector:
Tang I-Fen
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 39 -1/4 x w 19 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Dr. Roger S. Spang
Landscape (in the manner of Tsan Ni ) 17 century A.D. 1987.20
Creator/Collector:
Hsu Tsai (Yu)
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and color on
satin
China
h 51 -3/8 x w 18 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of James and Dorothy Cahill
Landscape (in the manner of Kung-Wang Huang) 17 century A.D. 1988.13
Creator/Collector:
Wang Chien (attributed to)
Physical Description:
Painting
ink on paper
China
h 28 -1/4 x w 15 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Dorothy Cahill
Man and Servant Searching for Plum Blossoms; Gibbon in a Tree 17- early 18 century A.D. 1990.13
Creator/Collector:
Wang Hui (attributed to)
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and light color on
silk
China
h 36 -1/2 x w 14 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of James Cahill
Landscape with Waterfall 18 century A.D. 1994.31
Creator/Collector:
Hu, Shih-Ch'a
Physical Description:
Painting
album leaf mounted as hanging scroll: ink on
paper
China
h 54 -1/4 x w 14 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Dorothy Dunlap Cahill
Landscape with Cranes 1638 1997.28
Creator/Collector:
Ch'en Kuan (Chen Kuan)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and colors on
silk
China
h 78 x w 38 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Museum purchase
t: Meng-hsien
h: Hsing-an
Inscription by the artist: "Cranes nesting in the pine trees everywhere, people
visiting the wicker gate are few. On an auspicious day in the first month of the
mou-yin [1638] Ch'en Kuan painted this as a present for Mr. Ming-tai." Translation by
Marsha Smith Weidner.
Ch'en Kuan was a noted painter, calligrapher, and poet from Suchou in Chechiang
province. Here Ch'en pays homage to the early Ming master Wen Cheng-ming, using that
artist's cool-warm coloration, tall stately pines, and well-defined layered mountains.
This landscape painting is actually a "birthday painting," or a work commissioned as
a present for a friend. From the artist's inscription it is clear that this painting
was presented to a Mr. Ming-tai in this way.
Man and Servant Beneath Trees 1616 1997.4.1
Creator/Collector:
Shen Shih-ch'ung (Shen Shichong))
Physical Description:
Painting
Album leaf, ink and light colors on
paper
China
h 12 x w 9 -7/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from Jane Lurie
t: Tzu-chü
Shen Shih-ch'ung was from Hua-t'ing, Chiangsu province, and was a pupil of first Sung
Mou-chin and later Chao Tso, who became one of the most famous Yün-chien school
artists. The artists of this tradition painted landscapes with an atmospheric quality
and frequently their paintings take on a slightly hazy look.
This school's first master was Sung Hsü, whose work is also shown here.
Historically the Yün-chien (the old name of the region of Sung-chiang) school was
held in contrast to the Hua-t'ing (named for the county and city) school, whose major
exponent was the theoritican and painter Tung Ch'i-chang. Shen displays the typical
Yün-chien school flare for beautiful and expert brushwork, particularly in the
handling of the autumn trees and densely textured rocks.
Wind and Snow in the Fir-pines mid to late 13 century A.D. 1999.24
Creator/Collector:
Kuo Min (Guo Min)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll; ink and light color on
silk
China
h 49 -1/4 x w 22 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible by gifts from Jane Lurie and Nancy Chew, through the donations
of Albert A. M. Bender, Mrs. Anson S. Blake, William E. Colby, the Estate of Sallie
Frances Devine, Arthur F. Landeson and the proceeds of the 1998 Asian Art and Fumpon
Sale.
t: Po-ta
Kuo Min was a late Sung, early Yüan painter whose works are quite rare. He was
from Ch'i-hsien in Honan province and was known as a painter of landscapes, figures,
flowers, and ink bamboo. He worked in a style and developed compositions that are
associated with Northern Sung painters like Kuo Hsi and Li Ch'eng.
Following the Li-Kuo style, Kuo Min builds up forms to create this composition of
towering mountains fraught with looming overhangs. This unstable landscape creates a
tension that is further heightened by the bleakness of winter.
The painting is signed between two trees at the bottom right.
Landscape with Figures 1538 1999.45.2
Creator/Collector:
Wen Cheng-ming
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink on paper
China
h 65 -1/4 x w 13 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Hsingyuan Tsao and James Cahill
Walking on a Path Among Flowers 15-early 16 century A.D. 1999.45.3
Creator/Collector:
Shen, Chou
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and color on
silk
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of James Cahill and Hsingyuan Tsao
Winter Landscape in the manner of Li Cheng 1669 2000.30
Creator/Collector:
Gao Jian (Kao, Chien)
Physical Description:
Painting
album leaf: light color on paper
China
h 10 -1/2 x w 12 -15/16 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through gifts from Nancy and Don Chew and the Ching Wah Lee
Memorial Fund
Winter Landscape 17 century A.D. 2000.55.1
Creator/Collector:
Mei, Ch'ing ( Mei Qing)
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and colors on
silk
China
h 69 -1/2 x w 21 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Hsingyuan Tsao and James Cahill
Landscape with Houses among Trees 1591 2000.55.3
Creator/Collector:
Wu Pin
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and colors on
silk
China
h 47 -1/2 x w 18 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Hsingyuan Tsao and James Cahill
Landscape with Man in House 1671 2000.55.5
Creator/Collector:
Shih,T'ao (Shitao or Tao-chi)
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink on paper
China
h 40 x w 13 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Hsingyuan Tsao and James Cahill
Landscape 1544 2000.55.7
Creator/Collector:
Hsieh Shih-ch'en
Physical Description:
Painting
ink on paper
China
h 23 -1/2 x w 11 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Hsingyuan Tsao and James Cahill
Tall Landscape with Buildings 17 - early 18 century A.D. 2000.55.8
Creator/Collector:
Unknown; seals of Wu Li
Physical Description:
Painting
ink on paper
China
h 51 -1/4 x w 14 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Hsingyuan Tsao and James Cahill
Summer Trees Casting Shade 15 century A.D. 2000.7
Creator/Collector:
Tai Chin (Dai Jin)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink on silk
China
h 78 x w 42 -1/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through gifts from an anonymous donor, Robert Bloch, the
Warren King Family, Jane Lurie, Kirsten and Terry Michelson, and other Friends of the
Asian Gallery
t: Wen-chin
h: Ching-an
Tai Chin was from Ch'ien-t'ang, Chechiang province, and eventually settled in
Hangchou. His talent as a painter was recognized early in his life, but through what
appears to have been considerable envy from powerful adversaries, he was unable to
sustain a position at court. At one time, around 1425, he was summoned to court, but
soon returned to his home province. His landscapes are in the styles of Ma Yüan
and Hsia Kuei, but show greater complexity of depth and composition. He is regarded as
the principal master of the Che School.
This large scroll, originally badly mounted, was discovered by Cahill in an auction
in which one would not expect to find major works by major artists. After identifying
the genuine Tai Chin seal, which had been covered by brocade, Cahill began working
more carefully on the authenticity of the painting.
"Indeed it was a Tai Chin seal, corresponding to one on a famous painting in
Shanghai. Then I began working on style. I didn't believe that it could be Tai Chin
for a time, but the more I looked, the better it was." Cahill had the painting
remounted and during this time discovered, with the help of the well-known dealer and
connoisseur Cheng Chi, that the painting had a title in the upper right consistent
with a known painting in the famous sixteenth-century collection of the wicked Prime
Minister Yen Sung. Cheng Chi theorized that the owner's seal had been cut off when the
official was overthrown for political reasons. "In any case, it is a major Tai Chin
and I realized later when looking at it that it corresponds very nicely with a [noted]
painting in Shanghai. It has become one of the masterworks of the artist partly
because of the large size and the very impressive composition based loosely on the Kuo
Hsi painting Early Spring (1072)."
Album of Twelve Landscapes in Old Styles 1666 CC.212
Creator/Collector:
Wang Chien
Physical Description:
Painting
album: ink on paper
China
h 14 x w 10 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
t: Yuän-chao
h: Hsiang-pi, Lien-chou, Jan-hsiang an-chu
From T'ai-ts'ang, Chiangsu
The second of the "Four Wangs," and one of the "Nine Friends in Painting," Wang Chien
came from a family dedicated to learning and painting. He was a follower of Tung
Ch'i-chang and copied from the Yüan masters, developing a conservative approach
to landscape composition. He was for a time governor of Lien-chou, Kuangtung province
but was more interested in painting than politics and retired from public life.
Sunset in an Autumn Valley: Landscape with Man in House 1544 2002.2.3
Creator/Collector:
Shen Shih (Shen Shi)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink on paper
China
h 38 x w 12 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
Shen Shih was from Suchou but had also lived in Nanking. He studied the Sung and
Yüan masters as well as the professional artists T'ang Yin and Ch'iu Ying and is
said to have copied old paintings. Only a few works carry his own signature.
In this autumn landscape we see more of the influence of the Wu school master Wen
Cheng-ming. Shen Shih's light and deft brushwork are reminiscent of other better-known
painters like Shen Chou. The two poetic inscriptions on the top right of this work are
by Wen Po-jen (nephew of Wen Cheng-ming, whose work is in the exhibition) and another
Shen Shih. The artist Shen Shih indicates it was painted for Mr. Chu-lin of
Nanking.
Old Trees and Landscape (in the tradition of Miu Fu (15th c.)) mid 15 century A.D. 2002.2.6
Creator/Collector:
Unknown
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China, Ming
h 44 x w 16 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
A tradition of painting old, gnarled trees began as early as the Northern Sung period
and extended throughout Chinese painting history. Li Ch'eng (919-967) was one of the
most famous artists known for depictions of rough old trees in landscape. The Ming
artist Wen Cheng-ming continued the tradition that allowed for great expression to be
lent to a simple twisting of trunks.
Autumn Trees by the River 17 century A.D. CM.28
Creator/Collector:
Ch'en Hung-shou (Chen Hungshou)
Physical Description:
Painting
Fan painting: ink and color on gold
paper
China
h 9 -1/2 x w 18 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
Landscape with Portraits of Scholars 1648 CM.48
Creator/Collector:
Lan Ying; Hsieh Pin ( Xie Bin)
Physical Description:
Painting
Handscroll: ink and colors on
paper
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Sarah Cahill Collection
Old Tree and Bamboo (in the manner of Wu Chen (1280-1354)) 1559 2002.1.3
Creator/Collector:
Hsieh Shih-ch'en (Xie Shichen)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink on paper
China
h 41 -1/4 x w 21 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
t: Ssu-chung
h: Ch'u-hsien
Hsieh Shih-ch'en was from Suchou and spent most of his life painting there. His
family was wealthy yet he appears to have become a professional painter in a town that
was just beginning to gain prominence for both amateur and professional painters. It
is recorded that he followed Shen Chou's style adding bits of his own and other
professional painters' ideas to the mix. He is best known as a landscape painter with
a very deft and versatile brush.
River Landscape 14 century A.D. 2002.2.5
Creator/Collector:
Ma Wan (attributed to)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll, ink on silk
China
h 33 -3/4 x w 20 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
t: Wen-pi
h: Lu-ch'un or Lu-tun
Ma Wan was a follower of Tung Yüan, Mi Fu, and the Yüan master Huang
Kung-wang. He adopted the philosophy of Huang and other Yüan masters of using
landscape painting as a means of self-expression. Although possessing a classical
education, as a loyalist he chose reclusion away from society rather than serve the
foreign reign of the Mongols. On their demise in 1368 he returned to civil service
under the Hong-wu emperor. This loyal and upright attitude pervaded much of Yüan
period painting circles.
Winter Landscape 12 century A.D. CY.19
Creator/Collector:
Unknown; Chao Ling-jang (School of)
Physical Description:
Painting
album leaf: ink on silk
China
h 9 -3/8 x w 9 -5/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
Landscape with Buildings early 14 century A.D. CY.8
Creator/Collector:
Sun Chün-tse (Sun Junze)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
silk
China,
h 73 x w 44 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Sarah Cahill Collection
Although the major trends in Yüan period painting were taking a radical
departure from the Academy styles of Hangchou, a small group of painters continued the
elegant and idealized depictions of real nature seen in Southern Sung painting. Sun
Chün-tse was one who pursued this Ma-Hsia tradition, often, as here, on a larger
scale. Little is known of his life, only that he was from Hangchou, which was perhaps
the greatest influence in his following the earlier styles from the academy of
painting that had been centered there.
"The signature, in the lower left corner, deliberately obscured by a brushstroke of
ink but readable under strong light, matches those on several works by this artist
that were preserved in Japan. This [painting was] misrepresented, the signature
painted over and a label saying it's a Sung work, certainly by Ma Yüan (active
1190-1230). It was hanging in our living room in Berkeley when I went off to the
Cleveland Museum of Art for a symposium accompanying an exhibition of Yüan period
art. I gave a paper in which I argued that Yüan continuations of Sung traditions
also had to be included in our histories of Yüan painting, showing, for instance,
what Yüan paintings in the Ma Yüan style look like. Coming home and looking
[again at the painting] I realized that according to my own paper, this must be a
Yüan painting; and examining it closely I found the Sun Chün-tse signature.
So, suddenly it rose from a painting nobody noticed to a world-class masterpiece, all
because of a discovered signature."
Landscape with Cranes and Other Birds early 16 century A.D. cm.96
Creator/Collector:
Lü Chi (Lu Ji)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
silk
China
h 58 -1/2 x w 33 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Nicholas Cahill Collection
t: T'ing-chen
h: Lo-yü
Lü Chi was a court painter during the Hung-chih period (1488-1506) and was known
for his depictions of birds and flowers. He was from Ning-p'o, a city east of
Hangchou, where a flourishing commercial center for painting had existed for
centuries. In his paintings he followed T'ang and Sung masters and also imitated
paintings by the later artist Pien Wen-chin (ca. 1356-1428) as well as Pien's near
contemporary Lin Liang (1455-1500), who was already at court when Lü Chi arrived
around 1490.
"The seal below the artist's signature reads "Jih-chin ch'ing-kuang," a seal that
appears on a number of works by artists who served in the Ming imperial academy. It
was Wai-kam Ho [a curator at the Cleveland Museum of Art] who first [to my knowledge]
figured out what it means: 'Daily approaching [being close to] the Pure and Radiant,'
used by artists who had the privilege of working in the presence of the emperor. The
Chinese emperors often enjoyed having artists as their companions [they were given
quasi-military titles as if in the Imperial Guard] and watching them paint.The
circular forms at the base of the overhanging cliff are visually confusing - some
[students] in my seminar argued that the fading away above them represents a recession
into a hollow of space. But if one knows earlier representations of the same motif
[especially Sung], it's clear that it's an overhanging cliff, the upper part obscured
in mist, the lower part eroded and hollowed by water striking against it. By the
constant copying and imitating of the earlier, more naturalistic and readable form,
derived from observation of natural forms and phenomena, the motif has become visually
ambiguous, as commonly happened within Chinese painting traditions."
The Pleasures of Fishermen 15 - early 16 century A.D. CM.84
Creator/Collector:
Wu Wei
Physical Description:
Painting
Handscroll: ink and color on paper
China
h 10 -3/4 x w 87 -7/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
t: Shih-ying
h: Lu-fu
Later: t: Tz'u-weng
h: Hsiao-hsien
Wu Wei was born in Wu-ch'ang in Hupei province and received the early education
necessary to follow his father into civil service. However, his father died when he
was quite young so Wu turned to painting, first in Nanking and then in Peking under
imperial patronage. He was a favorite of the emperors Hsien-tsung and Hsiao-tsung.
Wu is best known as an extremely eccentric painter, mainly of figures, who led a
dissipated life of drinking and carousing yet retained support and patronage at the
highest levels. His escapades are duly recorded - including reporting to the emperor
in a state of total inebriation.
"This is . . . [a] horizontal scroll by Wu Wei, a Ming dynasty artist, active in the
late fifteenth, early sixteenth centuries. It represents fishermen on the river,
leading a sort of ideal life. Wu Wei painted in a kind of rough style, which is
perfect for this subject - relaxed and easy. He used a brush that was either worn down
or trimmed off so it would be kind of blunt instead of fine, elegant brushwork. Now,
[something] bothered me when I first saw this painting. I could see there were lots of
great things happening in it, a passage here where the fishermen have their nets drawn
up and somebody is in a house looking out at the fishermen and so on. [What] I
realized eventually, or what was pointed out to me, is that it is actually two
sections of a scroll that had been pieced together, and when they had put them
together they had to make certain adjustments to paint in a bush here and to finish
the riverbank [there]. [In] one part of the scroll there is a willow tree and you can
see the branches coming in, but the tree is now lost, so it is a willow tree without
any trunk. Then you go on to the major part of the scroll, which is where the
fishermen are all living this happy bucolic life with their children, drinking wine,
not very actively fishing - it is a very highly idealized version of the life of the
fisherman [who] had the same kind of position in Chinese art as shepherds and
shepherdesses did in the pastoral mythology of France or Europe."
In discussing how he included in his teaching the importance of the physical
characteristics of a work of art, Cahill remarked, "I used [the Wu Wei] to point out
the necessity for looking hard at the painting and seeing what's been done to it. I've
tried to convey that involvement with the painting apart from being an academic. It's
too easy to go from dealing with photographs and slides to putting the same things on
the screen as if this is all disembodied. Collecting makes you think about art as
solid things. Collecting also sharpens your eye for quality. [The same is true for]
students; seeing the [object] and developing a passion for it, or dislike, is very
different from simply having a string of slides presented to you in a lecture."
Buildings on Immortal Mountains 1555 cm.77
Creator/Collector:
Wen Chia (Wen Jia)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 40 -1/2 x w 11 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Sarah Cahill Collection
t: Hsiu-ch'eng
h: Wen-shui
Wen Chia was the second son of Wen Cheng-ming and painted in the style of his father.
He was influenced by Ni Tsan and Wang Meng, two of the "Four Great Masters" of the
Yüan period.
Waterfall in Winter 1589 cm.64
Creator/Collector:
Sung Hsü (Song Xu)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 74 -1/4 x w 16 -3/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Sarah Cahill Collection
t: Ch'u-yang and Shih-men
Sung Hsü was from Ch'ung-te, near Chia-hsing, Chechiang province but lived and
worked much of his life around Sung-chiang. He was much admired during his life, both
for his ability as a painter and his spiritual understanding. He lived in a Taoist
temple and had studied Ch'an Buddhism, although he never actually became a monk. His
paintings from the 1580s, like this tall, attenuated landscape, are independent and
individualistic, although it is possible to see the influence of Shen Chou in the
development of the brushwork in the mountain forms. The dramatic appeal of this
painting is in the compressed composition.
His influence extended into the next generation of painters as the teacher of Chao
Tso and Sung Mou-chin.
Landscape with Scholar and Servant 19 century A.D. cc.104
Creator/Collector:
Jen I (Po-nien; Ren Yi)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 69 -7/8 x w 18 -7/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
"This is a painting that is tumultuous and powerful on one level and that also has
subtleties. There is a figure of a man walking up the mountain path with a servant
over in the middle right, sort of hidden away, and then trees that skewer the whole
landscape, so to speak, holding it all together. Jen I uses just little areas of color
to tie things together. Green is repeated up above so you can see where the path goes,
how you climb up it. It looks like it has been done very casually, spontaneously, and
probably was, and at the same time it's very solidly put together by this great
master."
Spring Thunderstorm 1715 1967.13
Creator/Collector:
Wang Yun
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and colors on
silk
China
h 77 -3/8 x w 41 -7/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Elizabeth Hay Bechtel, University of California, Berkeley, class of 1925
Landscape with Travelers 18 century A.D. 1980.42.26
Creator/Collector:
Unknown
Physical Description:
Painting
ink and color on silk
China
h 15 -7/8 x w 12 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Travelers in a Landscape n.d. 1980.42.32
Creator/Collector:
Yeh, Yü
Physical Description:
Painting
ink and colors on silk
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Landscape with Trees, painted for Wang Shih-Chen (1634-1711) 17 century A.D. CC.115
Creator/Collector:
Kung Hsien (Gong Xian)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink on satin
China
h 61 -1/4 x w 19 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Nicholas Cahill Collection
t: Ch'i-hsien
h: Pan-ch'ien, Pan-mu, Ch'ai-chang-jen, Yeh-i
Born in K'un-shan, Chiangsu Province, Kung Hsien eventually became the leading I-min
("leftover subject") painter in Nanking. He died in poverty, never caring to promote
himself or his paintings, and yet is considered to be the most famous of the
Individualist group of "Eight Masters from Nanking." He is admired for closely
following the Sung masters, yet creating exciting new pictorial expressions through
innovative brushwork. His works are hauntingly beautiful renditions of a shadowy
world.
The brilliant and influential connoisseur and collector Chou Liang-kung (1612-1672)
wrote in his famous treatise on paintings of this period, the Tu Hua Lu, "Kung Hsien
was of an eccentric nature and found it difficult to associate with other people. As a
painter he swept away the common mannerism (trodden path) and produced very deep and
original works. He said of himself, "there has been nobody before me and there will be
nobody after me." (Translation from Siren)
"In an article I wrote on Kung Hsien I trace his style using various methods [all
that was available to me then] showing how he begins with a linear manner adopted from
Anhui and other masters of that time, then, affected by foreign pictures, adds
light-and-shadow stippling or shading, so as to render volumetric masses. This
painting must be from [his early period] around 1666-1667.Then [he goes into] his
great middle period and a late period in which he produces more, and more quickly,
dropping the careful stippling for the most part and working in fast-running line and
dotting. The Kung Hsien handscroll [also in this exhibition], which has only a simple
signature must be late [in his work]. The Willow Dwelling [hanging immediately to the
left of this scroll] with calligraphy is probably also fairly late. All the way
through he avoids the proper brushwork of the Orthodox masters and uses brush
techniques that get him condemned for "bad brushwork". . . And his high reputation now
is a modern thing, same as Shih-t'ao and others."
The Willow Dwelling 17 century A.D. CC.116
Creator/Collector:
Kung Hsien (Gong Xian)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink on paper
China
h 47 -1/2 x w 23 -1/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Sarah Cahill Collection
Landscape n.d. CC.119
Creator/Collector:
Kuo Jen-lin
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink on satin
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
Landscape 1664 CC.147
Creator/Collector:
Tai Pen-hsiao (Dai Benxiao)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink on paper
China
h 48 x w 11 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Sarah Cahill Collection
t: Wen-chin
h: Ching-an
Inscription by the artist: "Deep green gives rise to shadows, trees coalesce as
curtains,/ Agitated clouds float whitely, water gives birth to waves./ Thus I know the
world's mundane affairs/ Will not reach this short bamboo fence in the mountains./ A
solitary pine takes hold of the pond, the halcyon shadow is long./ On the whole road,
mountain flowers send [their fragrance] far./ There is also a clear spring
contributing to listening quietly./ It is as if I were at Wangchun village. The first
day of the eighth month of jiachen [1664]. The old woodcutter of Ying'a Mountain,
Benxiao (Pen-hsiao)." Translation by Haruki Yoshida
Tai Pen-hsiao was from Anhui province, the son of a Ming loyalist who moved his
family several times to avoid the chaos of the late Ming period. This undoubtedly
affected Tai's own choice to remain outside the court and to seek reclusion in the
mountains of Anhui. His painting style is extremely linear; in this he resembles
another Anhui artist, Hung-jen. Tai also followed the Yüan masters, painting the
same kind of spare landscapes as Ni Tsan.
River Landscape with Fisherman in Boat 1662 CC.169
Creator/Collector:
Wang Hui; Yun Shou-p'ing (Yun Shouping)
Physical Description:
Painting
Handscroll: ink on paper
China
h 7 -7/8 x w 40 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
t: Shih-ku
h: Keng-yen san-jen, Ch'ing-hui chu-jen, Chien-men ch'iao-k'o, Niao-mu shan-jen
Wang Hui was from a family of professional painters from Ch'ang-shu, Chiangsu
province. He was the third of the "Four Wangs" (Wang Shih-min, Wang Chien, Wang Hui,
and Wang Yüan-chi) and one of the "Six Great Masters of the Ch'ing" (with the
Four Wangs, Yün Shou-p'ing, and Wu Li). Often referred to as members of the
Orthodox Tradition, these artists followed the great critic and painter Tung
Ch'i-ch'ang in his reliance on the great past masters. They are typically placed in
contrast to painters who were more independent and thus known as the
Individualists.
Wang Hui's talent was recognized early and he was brought into an important circle of
painters, connoisseurs, and collectors by Wang Chien and Wang Shih-min. Through these
associations he was able to see many fine painting collections and in some instances
was able to copy masterpieces, one of the major tools for learning the works of the
masters. He became one of the most prolific of the early Ch'ing painters.
Known as the greatest flower painter of his time, Yun Shou-p'ing was from Wu-chin,
Chiangsu province. He was a contemporary of Wang Hui and Wang Yüan-chi, two of
the greatest landscape painters of the time (the three are among the "Six Great
Masters of the Ch'ing). His family situation was similar to theirs in that he was the
son of a Ming loyalist and so did not choose to serve as an official under the Ch'ing
dynasty. Instead he studied painting with his uncle and made his living as a
painter.
Landscape with Scholar and Servant 18 century A.D. 2002.1.2
Creator/Collector:
Huang Shen
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 42 x w 54 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
"The size and shape suggests that [this scroll] might have been mounted as a screen.
This may account for the fact that it's rather beat up, as if exposed a lot, but still
strong . . . Huang Shen often did big pictures, but they tended to be of large,
sometimes rather gross figures. This one is better than most, although also, no doubt,
done rather quickly. . . he was prolific, [and] adopted a style that would permit him
to be."
Landscape with Figures mid 18 century A.D. CC.217
Creator/Collector:
Li Shih-cho (Li Shizhuo)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and colors on
paper
China
h 31 x w 17 -3/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
Landscape 1705 CC.242
Creator/Collector:
Wang Yüan-ch'i (Wang Yuanqi)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 25 x w 15 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
t: Mao-ching
h: Lu-t'ai, Hsi-lu hou-jen, Shih-shih tao-jen
From T'ai-ts'ang, Chiangsu
Wang Yüan-ch'i was the grandson of Wang Shih-min, and thus had the same interest
in following the Orthodox tradition as espoused by the critic and painter Tung
Ch'i-ch'ang. The youngest of the "Four Wangs," his political situation was different
from that of the others in that distance from the Ming and acceptance of the Ch'ing
permitted Wang Yüan-chi to accept a government position after obtaining his
chin-shih degree in 1670. He was appointed to the Hanlin Academy in 1700. He was also
a Member of the Board for compilation of the P'ei-wen chai shu-hua p'u (Encyclopedia
of calligraphy and painting commissioned by the K'ang-hsi emperor).
In his painting he followed the Yüan master Huang Kung-wang.
Landscape (in the manner of Lu Kuang (active ca. 1325-1359)) 1658 CC.76
Creator/Collector:
Hung-jen (Hongren)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink on paper
China
h 34 x w 13 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Sarah Cahill Collection
t: Chien-chiang
h: Mei-hua ku-na, Yün-yin
Hung-jen was born in Chiang T'ao in Hsieh-hsien, Anhui province. He reportedly lived
in poverty, yet he managed to obtain an education and an official degree, which would
have allowed him to work in the civil service. However, with the fall of the Ming in
1644, he, like many other painters, chose to remain loyal to the Ming and thus became
an I-min or "leftover subject." He became a Buddhist monk, took the name Hung-jen, and
went to work in the deep mountains of Anhui. He reportedly seldom left his home on Mt.
Huang other than to visit friends in Hangchou, Yangchou, and Nanking.
Hung-jen is regarded as the leading artist in the Anhui school, a loosely defined
group that used the distinctive landscape of the Anhui area for creative inspiration.
He was considered one of the "Four Masters of Anhui."
In this, one of his late masterpieces, he follows the Yüan dynasty painter Lu
Kuang, who he mentions in the inscription. He uses the same compositional types as Lu
Kuang, in particular the building up of forms to create substance and depth. Hung-jen
is known to have been especially concerned with adhering to Yüan dynasty models
and is credited with having brought the Yüan master Ni Tsan's style back into
favor.
"[This painting] isn't the more favored kind of Hung-jen with angular, geometric
forms, but it is still genuine and fine, from late in his life."
The Temple at Mt. Chih-P'ing 1516 CM.102
Creator/Collector:
Wen Cheng-ming (Wen Zhengming)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and colors on
silk
China
h 30 -1/2 x w 16 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
Original name Pi and tzu was Cheng-ming
Later adopted Cheng-ming and took the tzu Cheng-chung and the hao Heng-shan
chü-shih
Wen Cheng-ming was from a wealthy Suchou family and thus had ample access to an
education and literary texts; as such he should have followed a career in civil
service. However, he failed in many attempts to pass the second level of examinations
and eventually was given an appointment instead. He did not last long in government
service and eventually retired from public life.
His failure in government is in stark contrast to his success as a painter. He
studied painting with the great early Ming master Shen Chou (1427-1509) and followed
the Yüan masters, particularly in landscape painting, but also in bamboo and
paintings of old trees. His use of pale cool and warm colors, an attenuated landscape
format, and the complexity of positive and negative shapes are hallmarks of his work.
He shaped the Wu school into a virtual dynasty with his son, nephew, and students
leading generations of artists with his example. He was much admired during his
lifetime and enjoyed the patronage of Wang Shih-chen and his brother Wang Shih-mou,
government officials who were noted collectors and connoisseurs.
"The inscription is published in Wen Cheng-ming's literary works, but for some reason
the painting was not accepted by everybody. It doesn't look like what you think of
when you think of Wen Cheng-ming. When it came up at auction during the seminar I had
slides of it and we worked through it trying to see whether it was or it wasn't [Wen
Cheng-ming]. By that time, we had come to some criteria for recognizing the hand of
Wen Cheng-ming: how he puts a painting together, the different motifs, apart from the
style he was working in. [We found] the paintings looked superficially different, but
fundamentally, structurally the same. We came to the conclusion that it was indeed a
real Wen Cheng-ming, and I proceeded to buy it after the auction was over. It was an
example in which we were able to get the painting because of making a decision in the
seminar. I'm not saying I wouldn't have bought it otherwise, but I felt a lot better
about it."
The Wang-Ch'uan Villa (in the manner of Wang Wei (699-759)) 17 century A.D. 2002.2.2
Creator/Collector:
Chang Chi-su (Zhang Jisu)
Physical Description:
Painting
Handscroll: ink on silk
China
h 12 -5/16 x w 153 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
Chang Chi-su worked outside of the mainstream of seventeenth-century painting and was
less susceptible to the critical currents of the Sung-chiang area. He was from
P'u-chou, present-day Yung-chi in Shansi province. Chang's work carries the flavor of
the Nanking school painters like Wu Pin. In this handscroll we also see some signs of
Western influences in his style.
"Chang Chi-su apparently at some point in his career had been able to see and study
what he took to be the original of Wang Wei's famous scroll of the Wang-Ch'uan Villa.
Wang Wei was an eighth-century poet painter, later hailed as the forefather of
literati amateur/scholar painters. Wang Wei [in his famous scroll] had painted the
surroundings of his villa, the Wang-ch'uan River. Originally on the walls of his
villa, the composition came down through the centuries in various ways. A version of
it surfaced in the late Ming and was taken by some people to be the original - it was
engraved in stone and so forth. So Chang Chi-su was able to see this and he did
various versions of it. I think five of them exist, four plus this one."
Landscape with Waterfalls 1608 CM.43
Creator/Collector:
Gao Yang
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink, color on
paper
China
h 79 -1/4 x w 17 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
Mountain Landscape, with Two Figures 1609 CM.44
Creator/Collector:
Kao, Yang
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink, color on silk
China
h 70 x w 26 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Nicholas Cahill Collection
River Landscape with Villa 1470 CM.59
Creator/Collector:
Ni Hung-ao (-hao?)
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and colors on
silk
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
Flowers and Butterfly 12 century A.D. CY.14
Creator/Collector:
Unknown, old attribution to Hsü Hsi (Xu Xi) (d. before 975)
Physical Description:
Painting
Album leaf mounted as a hanging scroll: ink
and color on silk
China
h 9 -1/2 x w 9 -3/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Nicholas Cahill Collection
This painting is an exceptional example of the Southern Sung Academy style of
bird-and-flower painting, which takes an almost scientific approach to describing
nature. The delicate turn of the leaf and the immediacy of the butterfly approaching
crystallize a moment in time.
Landscape with Houses on a Mountainside (Waterfall on Mt. K'uang-Lu) 17 century A.D. 2002.2.7
Creator/Collector:
Kung Hsien (Gong Xian)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink on paper
China
h 44 -1/4 x w 17 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
Landscape 17 century A.D. CC.227
Creator/Collector:
Kung Hsien (Gong Xian)
Physical Description:
Painting
Handscroll: ink on paper
China
h 11 x w 105 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
Landscape 1681 CC.47
Creator/Collector:
Fa Jo-chen (FA Ruozhen)
Physical Description:
Painting
handscroll: ink and color on paper
China
h 12 -3/4 x w 538 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
t: Han-ju
h: Huang-shih
Fa Jo-chen was a native of Chiao-chou, Shantung province, but he lived at various
times in Fuchien, Chechiang and in Anhui. He is usually associated with the Anhui
school, a loosely identified group that used Mt. Huang as their subject matter and
frequently followed the Yüan master Ni Tsan in depicting spartan landscapes
devoid of people.
The long handscroll depicting a turbulent, slanting view of a mountainous area is
similar to other works by the artist in his later years. His brushwork of lightly
flying strokes is unmistakable and unique. He folds the composition in and over
itself, time and again, in a slightly dizzying manner, creating a continuous,
undulating landscape.
Mountains at Dawn 1945 CT.21
Creator/Collector:
Huang Pin-hung
Physical Description:
Painting
horizontal painting: ink and color on
paper
China
h 18 -1/2 x w 72 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yuan Chai Collection
Landscape with Figures (in the manner of Kuo Hsi (ca. 1000 - ca.1090)) Late 13-mid 14 century A.D. 2002.2.4
Creator/Collector:
Unknown
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink on silk
China
h 29 -5/8 x w 15 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
The style associated with the Northern Sung painter and theoretician Kuo Hsi
(eleventh century) can be seen clearly in this monumental landscape painting.
Landscape painting of the Northern Sung emphasized the enormity of nature and the
smallness of man. According to writings attributed to Kuo Hsi, the artist's state of
mind played a significant role in his ability to truly depict the essence of the
natural world. His son Kuo Ssu wrote of his father's teachings that: "[The artist]
must do his work with his whole soul; if he does not work with his whole soul, the
essential will not be clear. He must be severe and respectful in his work, otherwise
it will lack depth of thought. He must apply zeal and reverence to complete it,
otherwise the picture will not be properly finished." (Translation from Siren)
In the Northern Sung dynasty style, large symmetrical landscape forms are built up in
layers and densely textured with a variety of brush techniques. This Yüan version
establishes a greater separation between the viewer and the scene, but closely follows
the Northern Sung methods of multipoint perspective and the tilting of the far peak,
which distorts the central mountain.
Scenery of Nan-P'ing-Shan (South Screen Mountain) 1627 2001.4.5.a-b
Creator/Collector:
Lan Ying
Physical Description:
Painting
Handscroll: ink and colors on silk
China
h 11 -3/4 x w 93 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
t: T'ien shu
h: Hsi hu wai shi, Tieh-sou, Shih-t'ou-t'o
Lan Ying was born in Chechiang province and lived most of his life in Hangzhou. He is
often regarded as the last great painter of the Che school, (a school founded by Tai
Chin [1388-1462]) and associated with a decorative and academic style).
Although Lan Ying began his career as a professional painter, a somewhat derogatory
appellation in light of the higher status of the scholar/gentry/amateur painter, his
surviving works demonstrate why he is considered one of the greatest artists of his
period. His studies of early masters, coupled with his precise brushwork, drew him
praise from the powerful Sung-chiang art circles of the early Ch'ing period. He was a
teacher of Chen Hung-shou and of Liu Tu, another late Ming artist.
Cloudy Hills 2000.55.6
Creator/Collector:
Unknown
Physical Description:
Painting
handscroll: ink and color on silk
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Hsingyuan Tsao and James Cahill
Landscape 1631 - 1641 1980.42.13
Creator/Collector:
Ku Ning-yüan
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and colors on
silk
China
h 12 x w 9 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Scholars Gazing at the Moon and Reflections of It in the Water 17 century A.D. CM.24.a
Creator/Collector:
Ch'en Ch'üan (Chen Quan)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and colors on
silk
China, Late Ming or early Ch'ing
h 43 -5/8 x w 17 -7/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Nicholas Cahill Collection
Inscription by artist: Verse couplet. "I have depicted: 'All the moons in the water
are held by a single moon; One single moon can thus hold all the lakes and rivers' -
an allusion to the Ch'an Buddhist poem: "The moon imprints itself on a thousand
rivers,/ and yet, in reality, is a single moon." Translation by Patricia Berger
"[In this painting] scholars here and there throughout the picture are all looking at
reflections of the moon. There are scholars on the bridge looking at one reflection of
the moon and there are people in the foreground looking at another. Then there's the
real moon up in the sky. It's quite a wonderful conception . . . What the picture
really is showing is a Ch'an or Zen Buddhist idea [with] the inscription meaning
something like, 'all phenomena and things go back to one cause and are infinitely
manifested on earth.' The idea is that everybody sees a different reflection of the
moon, but they all go back to one real moon. The picture was done for a Zen monk, it
turns out."
This is the only known work by the unrecorded artist Ch'en Ch'üan, whose
influences - notably the use of lush washes of ink and vivid brushwork - appear to
have come from Che school adherents in the Hangchou area.
Landscape with Pavilion at the Foot of a Waterfall 1963 CT.39
Creator/Collector:
Wang Chi-ch'uan
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and colors on
paper
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yuan Chai Collection
Plum Tree and Ducks by a Stream early 13 century A.D. 2000.29
Creator/Collector:
Ma Yüan (Ma Yuan)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and colors on
silk
China
h 31 -1/2 x w 18 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchased made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
h: Ch'in-shan
Ma Yüan was from Ho-chung, Shansi province. He was the principal artistic
exponent of a school of painting associated with the Southern Sung dynasty court; he
painted during the Shao-hsi era (1190-1194) and was still active in Emperor Li-tsung's
reign (1225-1264). He and Hsia Kuei lend their names to the most famous school of the
Southern Sung period, the Ma-Hsia school.
This school, working from a basis established in the Northern Sung period, depicted a
natural and somewhat romanticized landscape. In this painting, like many of his
typical compositions, a dense corner composition is incorporated with an open, misty
middle ground, with views to the distant hills. Hence the artist's sobriquet "one
corner Ma."
The court and the Painting Academy that Ma served were centered in the beautiful town
of Hangchou, home to the scenic West Lake and long known as a place of culture, art,
and poetry. Ma Yüan was firmly associated with the Academy, taking his place as
the fourth-generation painter in his family to serve the Emperor. There are many
paintings attributed to this artist but only a very few genuine examples of his
work.
"[When I saw this painting] I immediately took it to be a genuine Ma Yüan,
[with a] good signature [only trimmed at the bottom], and told [the dealer] so, asking
whether the price wasn't too low. He said, 'We'll sell you this cheap this time, and
something else expensive next time.' So I bought it. As it happened, I had just
finished giving my course on early Chinese painting, through Sung, and had shown
students how genuine Ma Yüans can be distinguished from imitations and copies:
the more fluid drawing of the plum tree [stiff and angular in copies, typically]; the
gradual fading and loss of detail in a three-step recession; the way the space funnels
back in an S-curve, and so forth."
Landscape 17 century A.D. CC.57
Creator/Collector:
Fu Shan
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink on silk
China
h 67 x w 17 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
t: Ch'ing-chu
h: Chen-shan, Se-lu, Kung chih-t'a, Jen-chung, Liu-ch'ih, Sui-li
Fu Shan, a noted calligrapher as well as a painter and physician from Shansi, lived
through the tumultuous period between the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties. He fought the
Ch'ing and became known as a Ming loyalist.
"Fu Shan is better known as a calligrapher, and his landscape paintings are
relatively rare. This is one of his best. I don't usually go for the facile equations
of painting and calligraphy - they are profoundly different arts. But here, because of
the highly formalized character of the painting, one could make formal connections
with his calligraphy."
Trees in a Valley 1549 CM.135
Creator/Collector:
Wen Cheng-ming (Wen Zhengming)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and colors on
paper
China
h 38 x w 11 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
"This painting is one of the fine works of this subject from Wen's late period in
which old trees took on a powerful symbolic importance in his works. It was reproduced
in [Osvald] Siren's Chinese Painting when it was owned by [an old collector] in Ashiya
[Japan]. Siren had visited the old [collector], as I did during my Fulbright year.
After his death the collection passed to his older son, who was passionately devoted
to racing cars and cared nothing about Chinese paintings. In the 1980s [the son] began
releasing them to New York auctions, and this Wen Cheng-ming appeared in [a] catalog.
"This was too late a purchase to figure in my Wen Cheng-ming seminar, in which old
trees, especially cypresses, were a major theme - I organized a weekend trip to Point
Lobos near Carmel to see the famous old cypresses there; we stayed overnight at Chang
Ta-ch'ien's [a contemporary Chinese painter] place at Pebble Beach [his daughter Sing
was in the seminar]."
River Landscape with Blue 1982 CT.65
Creator/Collector:
Wang Chi-ch'uan
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 28 -5/8 x w 40 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yuan Chai Collection
Evening Landscape 17 century A.D. 1997.17
Creator/Collector:
Fan Ch'i (Fan Qi)
Physical Description:
Painting
Album leaf mounted as hanging scroll: ink on
paper
China, Ming Dynasty
h 9 -5/8 x w 11 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
t: Hui-kung and Ch'ia-kung
Fan Ch'i was from Chiang-ning in Chiangsu province. He was known as one of the Eight
Masters of Nanking, a circle of great artists working in that city at the end of the
Ming Dynasty. He was also well regarded as a poet. This album leaf, mounted as a
hanging scroll, displays a crisp and clear environment, meticulously painted in a
style that has roots in the great traditions of the Sung masters. His work also
reflects knowledge of Western perspective, which was gaining favor among the artists
in Nanking. The connoisseur and collector Chou Liang-kung acted as a patron to Fan
Ch'i.
River Landscape (or Landscape with Village) 1966 CT.42
Creator/Collector:
Wang Chi-ch'ien (Wang Jiqian; CC Wang)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
h 19 -1/8 x w 23 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Extended loan from the Ch'ing Yüan Chai Collection
Wang Chi-ch'ien was born in Wu-hsien in Chiangsu province and emigrated to the United
States in 1949, settling in New York City. He has been a major force in contemporary
art circles and has taken part in numerous exhibitions at museums and galleries. He
trained as an artist in China with the famous Suchou painter Gu Lin-shih (1865-1933)
and later, in the 1930s, with the painter and collector Wu Hu-fan (1894-1968). His
training with these artists set the stage for him to be a traditional literati artist
in the late Ch'ing style. His paintings do use the principles of the past -
disciplined brushwork, a reliance on past masters, layering of composition - but in
Wang's hands they transcend the ordinary and become innovations of modern art. His use
of strong, nontraditional colors is only one of the many contributions that Wang has
made to the growth of contemporary Chinese painting.
Along with being an exceptional painter Wang is a collector and connoisseur of
Chinese painting. He is also the co-author of a standard reference text on Chinese
painters, has served as an advisor for numerous institutions, and is frequently called
upon by colleagues to authenticate works of art. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of
Chinese paintings and has traveled extensively to look at paintings. He and Professor
James Cahill are lifelong friends and often exchange opinions and paintings.
"I had the good fortune in my early career, while I was working on my dissertation,
to look at a lot of paintings in the company of some really great teachers. I put it
that way rather than simply learning from the teachers - they are talking to me; I am
standing there with them, looking at a painting and seeing what they say about it. I
was in New York, at the Metropolitan Museum on a fellowship, 1953 to 1954, before I
moved to Japan. I got to know C. C. Wang and spent a lot of time with him, looking at
paintings. [He] represents that absolute, top level of Chinese connoisseurship.
"I have said this is the basis of Chinese connoisseurship - being able to recognize a
good Orthodox school painting and being able to imitate it in your own painting like
Wang Chi-ch'ien can or Wu Hufan (1894-1968), who was Wang's teacher, or Xu Bangda [a
well-known Chinese connoisseur at the Palace Museum] in Beijing."
Landscape 1696 CC.167
Creator/Collector:
Wang Hui
Physical Description:
Painting
Handscroll: ink and colors on
paper
China
h 14 -3/8 x w 233
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
Figures
A Scholar Instructing Girl Pupils in the Arts 17 century A.D. 1967.12
Creator/Collector:
Chen Hungshou
Physical Description:
Painting
ink and color on silk
China
h 35 -3/4 x w 18 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Elizabeth Hay Bechtel, Class of 1925
Portrait of a Scholar 1639 1967.22
Creator/Collector:
Tseng Ch'ing
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 46 -3/4 x w 16 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Museum Purchase
The Zen Poet Han-Shan 13 century A.D. 1970.99
Creator/Collector:
Lo-Chuang (attributed to)
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink on paper
China
h 23 -1/4 x w 11 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Museum purchase
Lohan (Arhats) 17 century A.D. 1976.17
Creator/Collector:
Chen Hongshou
Physical Description:
Painting
ink and color on silk
China
h 13 x w 222 1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Museum Purchase
Bodhisattva (Monju Bosatsu) 13 ? century A.D. 1976.19
Creator/Collector:
Chang Ssu-Kung (attrib.)
Physical Description:
Painting
ink on silk
China
h 46 x w 21 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Dr. Eugene C. Gaenslen, Jr.
Figures Looking at Painting 18 century A.D. 1980.42.17
Creator/Collector:
Li Shih-cho
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and colors on
paper
China
h 27 -3/4 x w 15 -9/16 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Standing Figure 17 century A.D. 1980.42.3
Creator/Collector:
Ch'en, Hung-shou
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and color on
silk
China
h 29 -1/8 x w 13 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Seated Man with Cat 15 - 16 century A.D. 1980.42.4
Creator/Collector:
Chen, Tzu-ho
Physical Description:
Painting
ink and color on silk
China
h 45 -1/2 x w 29 -7/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Vajrabhairava (Lamaist painting) 1512 1982.13
Creator/Collector:
Unknown
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and color on
silk
China
h 51 -1/2 x w 39 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of James and Dorothy Cahill
The Eighteen Arhats Crossing the Sea 16 century A.D. 1986.35
Creator/Collector:
Wang Wen
Physical Description:
Painting
handscroll: ink on paper
China
h 12 -3/4 x w 54 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of James and Dorothy Cahill
The Garden of the Secluded Villa 1706 1997.4.2
Creator/Collector:
Yüan Chiang (Yuan Jiang)
Physical Description:
Painting
Folding fan: ink and colors on
paper
China
h 7 -1/8 x w 20 -7/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from Lurie Fund
t: Wen-t'ao
Yüan Chiang was from Chiang-tu in Chiangsu province, an area that had produced a
number of painters. He was a court painter in the Yung-cheng period (1723-1735). He
was known for large, decorative paintings in the spirit of the Northern Sung masters,
but here in this small fan format he captures an intimate moment in time with a
scholar seated at his lakeside pavilion. He exploits the rounded fan shape by echoing
it in rocks, bridges, and water.
Sakyamuni Buddha 18 century A.D. 2001.4.1
Creator/Collector:
Unknown; Yangchow School
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
Three Figures, Illustration to Shih Ching, Tsai Chu Poem (in the manner of Ma Ho-chih) n.d. 2001.4.6
Creator/Collector:
Unknown
Physical Description:
Painting
Fan-shaped album leaf, mounted as hanging
scroll: ink and colors on silk.
China
h 9 -3/4 x w 10 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
Lady at the Window with Rosary 17 century A.D. CC.247
Creator/Collector:
Unknown
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 46 x w 22 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yuan Chai Collection
Album of 12 Leaves: Figures in Landscape Settings 19 century A.D. CC.78
Creator/Collector:
Jen Hsiung
Physical Description:
Painting
album: ink and color on paper
China
h 9 -3/4 x w 6 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
Su Wu and Li Ling, with Attendants (Farewell of Su Wu and Li Ling) 17 century A.D. CM.108
Creator/Collector:
Ch'en Hung-shou (Chen Hungshou)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
silk
China
h 50 x w 19 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
t: Chang-hou
h: Lao-lien, Fu-ch'ih
After 1645 monastic name h: Lao-ch'ih, Hui-ch'ih
Ch'en Hung-shou was born in Chu-chi, Chechiang to a wealthy family and showed early
promise as an artist. He is best known as a figure painter and was often compared to
Ts'ui Tzu-chung, hence the phrase "Nan Ch'en pei Ts'ui," (Ch'en in the South, Ts'ui in
the North). His paintings of historical characters always carry a feeling of the
antique and often harbor a sense of estrangement.
"This painting is from Ch'en's middle period, the 1630s, when his paintings often
seem heavy-handed and unsubtle [he was keeping up a copious commercial output to
support himself, with studio assistants]. But this one, the more you look at it, turns
out to be full of subtleties and intricacies, and is really quite moving in the
end."
The Gathering in the Apricot Garden 1638 cm.67
Creator/Collector:
Ts'ui Tzu-chung (Cui Zizhong)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
silk
China
h 60 -3/4 x w 20 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Nicholas Cahill Collection
t: Tao-mu
h: Pei-hai and Ch'ing-yin
Ts'ui Tzu-chung was from Lai-yang, Shantung province, and lived in Peking. He was a
major force in figure painting, and was known for not accepting payment for his
paintings. He is often compared to Ch'en Hung-shou, considered Tsui's counterpart in
southern China. Tsui was a staunch Ming loyalist who starved to death when the dynasty
was overthrown.
"When, in the 1970s, Judy Andrews (former student, now professor of art history at
Ohio State University) did research toward her dissertation on Ts'ui Tzu-chung, she
discovered a passage in the writing of a later Ming scholar that recounted the story
behind this painting. Ts'ui was the guest of a patron in Beijing who, when he was
leaving on an official trip, asked Ts'ui to do a painting for him. Ts'ui
procrastinated, until the man finally sent a servant back to induce Ts'ui to finish it
and bring the painting to him. Ts'ui finally did it, representing the two of them
drinking a farewell tea together in the man's Apricot Garden. This is the very
painting the story is about. An interesting feature is the detailed depiction of the
apparatus for grinding tea, to make a powdered form that was drunk as in the Japanese
tea ceremony."
Taoist Fairy 18 century A.D. 1980.42.24
Creator/Collector:
Unknown
Physical Description:
Painting
woodblock
China
h 39 x w 12 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Album of Ten Leaves, Figures and Landscapes 1914 CT.29
Creator/Collector:
Wang Chen
Physical Description:
Painting
album leaves: ink and colors on
paper
China
h 12 -3/4 x w 16 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
t: I-t'ing
h: Bailong shanjen, Mei-hua kuan-chu, Chüeh-ch'i
Wang Chen was closely tied to the school of Shanghai artists active in the early part
of the twentieth century and studied with Jen I, whose works can be seen elsewhere in
the exhibition. Wang's paintings reflect this influence, particularly in being highly
calligraphic. He was a devout Buddhist, a revolutionary, and a businessman in a period
of great turmoil in China.
"Wang Chen is an artist who has only recently begun to be taken seriously. He was
overshadowed by Wu Ch'ang-shih, for whom he sometimes ghost-painted, and also suffered
from having painted too much, often repetitively. He did hundreds of pictures for
Japanese friends and visitors to Shanghai - he was a comprador for a Japanese company
- and his works could be found in Japan at the Yûshima Seidô [the Confucian
temple in Tokyo] in some number and very cheap. But this album, a relatively early
work, is special. The pictures of beggars, in particular, are sensitive and moving,
and in the tradition of the great Chou Ch'en series. (The Huang Shen Beggars and
Street Entertainers in this exhibition, fine as they are in their way, are
comparatively soft, and have less impact.) Wang's paintings of such subjects, not
many, relate to his prominence as a philanthropist and organizer of relief funds in
Shanghai."
Chung-K'uei, The Demon Queller 18 century A.D. 1967.24
Creator/Collector:
Kao Ch'i-p'ei
Physical Description:
Painting
ink and light colors on paper
China
h 53 -3/4 x w 28 -5/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Museum Purchase
2 Album Leaves: Figures in Landscapes 19 century A.D. CC.102
Creator/Collector:
Jen I (Po-nien)
Physical Description:
Painting
ink and color on paper
China
h 7 -7/8 x w 9 -5/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
t: Hsiao-lou
Jen I (also known as Jen Po-nien) was a native of Shao-hsing, Chechiang province, but
worked in Suchou and finally settled in Shanghai, where he became one of the major
figures in the Haipai, the Shanghai School of Painting. He was an extremely versatile
artist who mastered portraiture and bird-and-flower painting as well as landscapes. He
studied painting with the famous Jen Hsün, a brother to Jen Hsiung (together the
artists make up three of the famous "Four Jens"). He followed Ch'en Hung-shou's
example in figure painting.
"Jen I is an interesting case. He is the great figure master working in Shanghai in
the 1880s. He died fairly young, [but] was extremely prolific. He was one of those
painters who could never do anything without making it his own, without being
original. There was a constant creative energy and refusal to just repeat old
patterns. He was a brilliant artist, a little facile sometimes, but many of his works
are absolutely wonderful."
Arhats late 16 - early 17 century A.D. CM.120
Creator/Collector:
Wu Pin
Physical Description:
Painting
handscroll: ink and colors on
paper
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
Su Tung-P'o Returning to the Han-Lin Academy 15 - early 16 century A.D. cm.68
Creator/Collector:
Chang Lu (Zhang Lu) (attributed)
Physical Description:
Painting
Handscroll: ink and colors on
paper
China
h 12 -3/4 x w 248 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Sarah Cahill Collection
t: T'ien-ch'ih
h: P'ing-shan ching-chu
Chang Lu was from K'ai-feng in Honan province and later moved to Nanking. Chang was a
follower of Wu Wei, but had neither the poor temperament nor the addictions to drink
and gambling that plagued the older artist. He was a popular painter who, like Wu, had
not completed his education and so had no official status in society: thus, he
frequently was subject to the whims of high-ranking officials.
This painting depicts a well-known story about the Sung scholar, poet, and statesman
Su Tung-p'o, who was banished from the capital but who returns to the Hanlin Academy
absolved and triumphant after a meeting with the empress dowager.
Album of 12 Leaves: Beggars and Street Entertainers 1730 2002.2.1
Creator/Collector:
Huang Shen
Physical Description:
Painting
album: ink and color on paper
h 13 -1/4 x w 17 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
t: Kung-mao
h: Ying-p'iao-tzu
Huang Shen was from Fuchien province, but after establishing himself as a
professional painter with a following there, he traveled widely and then established
himself in the larger painting center of Yangchou, Chiangsu province. Eventually he
moved back to Fuchien and continued to sell his paintings. His works reflect his
interests in poetry and calligraphy.
These lowly "street people" are an unusual subject matter for Chinese painting, as
former Cahill student Ken Brown, now a professor of Asian art history at California
State University, Long Beach, comments:
"My very first graduate seminar paper was on the depiction of social outcasts in
Chinese painting. Because published works on the topic were rare, I was delighted to
use several relevant paintings in the Ching Yüan Chai collection, including Huang
Shen's Beggars album. Because of direct access to works like these, the study of art
became immediate and visceral - the examination of tangible, living works rather than
of dry, ghostly photos. Moreover, behind every painting was a story of its acquisition
in which the tastes and habits of noted collectors, dealers, and scholars became as
familiar as pictorial subjects and styles or artists' biographies. In this way, the
social world of art history also came alive."
Bird-and-Flower Paintings
Plum Branch 1760 1975.36
Creator/Collector:
Chin Nung
Physical Description:
Painting
ink on paper
China
h 16 -1/4 x w 15 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Roger Spang
Peony and Apple Blossoms 1738 1980.42.12
Creator/Collector:
Kao Feng-han
Physical Description:
Painting
ink and color on silk
China
h 45 -1/4 x w 25 -5/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Garden Rock 1641 1980.42.15
Creator/Collector:
Lan Ying
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and color on paper,
wood
China
h 77 -1/4 x w 36 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Birds and Flowers 1980.42.6
Creator/Collector:
Chiang P'u
Physical Description:
Painting
ink and color on silk
China
h 69 -9/16 x w 37 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Bamboo and Rock 1749 1980.42.7
Creator/Collector:
Chu Sheng
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink on silk
China
h 70 -34 x w 35 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Melon and Vine 16 century A.D. 1996.49.1
Creator/Collector:
Xu Wei (Hsu, Wei)
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll, ink on paper
China, Ming Dynasty
h 25 x w 11 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of James Cahill
Untitled (album of birds, flowers, and landscapes) 17 century A.D. 1996.49.2.a-l
Creator/Collector:
Ch'en Hung-shou (Chen Hungshou)
Physical Description:
Painting
Album: ink and colors on silk
China, Ming Dynasty
h 8 -1/4 x w 6 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of James Cahill
As a young boy Ch'en studied with the great professional landscapist Lan Ying and was
a star pupil. His landscape paintings often show a strong decorative quality that
demonstrates his ability to go beyond his teachers' example. Ch'en attempted the civil
service examinations three times; after his third failure he turned his attention
permanently to painting and began designing woodblocks. He also gained a reputation as
a drinker and lover of women and other amusements.
"This [work by Ch'en Hung-shou] is a small, almost pocket album. It's painted in a
stiff style, almost like designs for lacquer, or something decorative . . . Mostly
Ch'en Hung-shou is [regarded as] a figure master, very refined. [However], before he
became a really refined painter he started out rather deliberately emphasizing his
craft origin. So, that this could be a genuine Ch'en Hung-shou was something I didn't
originally believe, but came around to it as everyone did, and now everybody
recognizes it for the real thing."
Grapes 13 century A.D. 2000.28
Creator/Collector:
Wen Jih-kuan (Wen Riguan)
Physical Description:
Painting
Handscroll mounted as hanging scroll: ink on
paper
China
h 12 -5/16 x w 32 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
Trilling Bird on Branch 18 century A.D. 2001.4.2
Creator/Collector:
Hua, Yen
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 52 x w 21 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
Lotus 1704 2001.4.4
Creator/Collector:
Shih T'ao
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink on paper
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
Album of 12 Leaves, Blossoming Plum 1748 CC.120
Creator/Collector:
Li Fang-ying
Physical Description:
Painting
Album: ink on paper
China
h 8 -7/8 x w 10 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
Brush Fire with Animals Fleeing 18 century A.D. cc.64
Creator/Collector:
Hua Yen (Hua Yan)
Physical Description:
Painting
Album leaf mounted as hanging scroll: ink and
color on paper
China
h 21 x w 20 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Nicholas Cahill Collection
t: Ch'iu-yüeh
h: Hsin-lo shan-jen
Hua Yen was born in Lin-t'ing, Fuchien province, but moved to Hangchou and then
Yangchou, both major painting centers in the early eighteenth century. He was very
active with a group of artists who had been involved in various ways with the late
seventeenth-century painter Tao-chi. By the 1730s, Hua Yen's compositions follow those
of that master of the spontaneous and unexpected.
"Hua Yen is a major, very versatile artist of the first half of the
eighteenth-century . . . and very famous now. Quite a lot of his work is around, but
this is a very special subject. [When I bought this work] it looked kind of coarse,
with a five-character title, plus the seal of Hua Yen, but no signature. And it was
not published. [However] the animals are very sensitively painted. You can see through
the smoke and fire and see the line of red fire going across. [There is] wonderful use
of ink, a highly unconventional painting. In this period, in Yangchou, and in
eighteenth-century painting generally, something gives way in the restrictions on
subject matter and suddenly they could do things with sort of ominous or painful
overtones. This has become a favorite painting, partly because it breaks the rules.
Over the years, as I have said to many people now, I have come to value more the odd
corners, the dissidents, the unorthodox, I mean people who really break the rules.
There are lots of painters in Yangchou who are eccentric, but [I mean] painters who
really break new ground, like this one."
Untitled (branch of flowering cherry or plum, calligraphy below) 18 century A.D. 1980.42.19
Creator/Collector:
Shen, Ch'üan (attributed to)
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and color on
silk
China
h 37 -1/2 x w 16 -1/2 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of the Bo-an Collection
Bamboo CC.123
Creator/Collector:
Li Shan
Physical Description:
Painting
album leaf: ink on silk
China
h 11 x w 16 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
Album of Ten Leaves of Flower and Landscapes 1676 CC.184
Creator/Collector:
Yun Shou-p'ing
Physical Description:
Painting
album: ink and color on paper
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
t: Cheng-shu
h: Nan-t'ien, Yün-shi wai-shih, Pai-yün wai-shih, Tung-yüan
ts'ao-i
In this album Yün uses a technique known as the "boneless" (mogu) to depict the
flowers, leaves, and stalks. This method uses shading and ink and color gradations to
describe the plant without outline. It was a technique that can trace its roots to the
eleventh-century painter Hsü Ch'ung-ssu. Other artists of the early Ming were
also using this technique, but in Yün's hands it creates an extremely airy and
light appearance, almost as if the plants were floating in space.
Bamboo Growing by a Rock 15 century A.D. CM.57
Creator/Collector:
Lu Tuan-chun
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink on silk
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private collection
Fish and Water Plants (in the tradition of Miu Fu (15th c.)) 15 century A.D. 2002.1.5
Creator/Collector:
Unknown
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 27 x w 14 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Purchase made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor
This large decorative hanging scroll of a fish amidst water plants is painted in the
style of court painting from the fifteenth-century. Miu Fu was a fifteenth century
artist who specialized in large-scale paintings of fish and other decorative subject
matter. During the early Ming this type of painting would have been created to hang in
a palace or court setting. Often the leaping fish is seen as symbolic of success in
passing examinations and thus is used as a congratulatory presentation piece.
Branch of Blossoming Plum 1892 CT.45
Creator/Collector:
Wu Chang-shih (Wu Changshou)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink on paper
China
h 29 -1/2 x w 10 -3/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
Original name: Chün-ch'ing
t: Lao fo, Fu lu
h: P'o-ho-lao-fou, Ts'ang-shih
Wu Chang-shih was from an area in the northwestern part of Chechiang and lived most
of his life in Suchou and Shanghai. His circumstances were rather humble yet he was
able to pass the first level exams and spent time studying the classics. He was a
talented seal carver and calligrapher as well as painter. He was well connected and
had a large circle of artist friends in the Shanghai area, knowing the Jens and many
other Shanghai school painters. He was a founding member of the Yuyuan Shuhua Shanhui
(The Yu Garden Charitable Association of Calligraphers and Painters) and a member of a
number of other calligraphy and painting associations.
His work found its way to Japan and he became a very popular artist there.
Orchids and Rock 1913 CT.48
Creator/Collector:
Wu Chang-shih (Wu Changshou)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 52 -3/4 x w 19 -3/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
P'i -P'a and Rock 1915 CT.49
Creator/Collector:
Wu Chun-ch'ing
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink and colors on
paper
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yuan Chai Collection
Branch of Blossoming Plum 1920 CT.50
Creator/Collector:
Wu Junching
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink on paper
China
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yuan Chai Collection
Bird on Stalk of Bamboo 1880 CC.87
Creator/Collector:
Jen I (Ren Yi)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 58 -1/4 x w 15 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
Wisteria late 19 century A.D. CT.55
Creator/Collector:
Wu Chang-shih (Wu Changshou)
Physical Description:
Painting
Album leaf: ink and colors on
paper
China
h 13 -1/4 x w 18 -1/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
Album of 8 Leaves: Fish and Fruit 1856 CT.20
Creator/Collector:
Hsü-Ku
Physical Description:
Painting
album: ink and color on paper
China
h 10 -3/4 x w 13 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Private Collection
Original name: Zhu Huai-jen
t: Hsu-pai
h: Tsu-yang shan-min
Hsü Ku was from She-hsien in Anhui province but worked in Yangchou, Suchou and
Shanghai. He served for a time in the military as his family background dictated. His
military service did not last long and he turned to Buddhism, becoming a monk.
He is best known as a painter of bird and flowers but was also accomplished in
architectural drawings and portraits. He was closely involved with the prominent
Shanghai School artists and is known to have collaborated with Jen I.
Pheasants on a Rock 19 century A.D. CC.79
Creator/Collector:
Jen Hsiung (Ren Xiong)
Physical Description:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and color on
paper
China
h 65 -1/2 x w 18 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
t: Wei-ch'ang
Jen Hsiung was the leader of the dominant Shanghai School that arose in the
mid-nineteenth-century. From Hsiao-shan, Chechiang he worked for a time in Hangchou
living with the collector Chou Hsuen (1820-1875) and copying works from his
collection. He later moved to Shanghai where he became established as the first of the
four famous Jens. He was an extremely versatile artist, capable of painting figures,
landscapes, and bird and flowers with equal skill and creativity.
"This painting is remarkable for the way Jen Hsiung runs together the ink and colors
on the birds' plumage without letting them really mix in a messy way. Somehow the
pigments are made opaque, mixed with some filler, and kept from flowing together
freely. I've asked artists how this is done and gotten various answers; nobody is
quite sure. It begins in eighteenth-century Yangchou painting, especially in Li Shan's
works, and is taken up by later flower painters, notably Chao Chih-ch'ien. It allows
the artist to place areas of heavy color together, contiguously, as couldn't be done
before. The effect may be in part inspired by European paintings they saw. Anyway, Jen
Hsiung, always an innovator, uses it here for a heavy, somber effect which Tsuruta
[Takeyoshi Tsuruta, a noted Japanese authority on nineteenth-century Chinese
painting], writing about this and similar paintings, saw as an expression of the dark,
somber mood of the mid nineteenth century."
Apples 1960 CT.37
Creator/Collector:
Wang Chi-ch'ien (Wang Jiqian; CC Wang)
Physical Description:
Painting
Ink and color on paper
China
h 36 -7/8 x w 17 -7/8 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
On extended loan from the Ching Yüan Chai Collection
"This painting hung for some time in the back room of the Mi Chou Gallery on Madison
Avenue in New York City - I would visit on every trip to New York [frequently, during
my years in Washington at the Freer Gallery of Art]. Anyway, every time I would go
there I would admire this [painting], and in between I would worry over whether
someone else would buy it. Finally I conquered my reluctance - understand that one
could buy a pretty good old painting in Japan for around the same price - and bought
it myself. I've never regretted it; it's hung on several walls of places I've lived.
It exemplifies what Wang himself says about strong but supple brushwork in praising
Bada Shanren and others, and is also very original compositionally. Was his style
affected in this period by his study [at Cooper Union in New York City] of
Western-style painting, was it Cézanne, or someone else? If you could combine
Bada Shanren and Cézanne, this is what you would get."
Miscellaneous
Calligraphy late 16 - early 17 century A.D. 2000.55.4
Creator/Collector:
Chang Jui-t'u
Physical Description:
Painting
hanging scroll: ink on silk
China
h 71 -7/8 x w 19 -1/4 inches
Contributing Institution: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
Custodial History
Gift of Hsingyuan Tsao and James Cahill