Landscape with Daoist immortals in the mountains

View right to left

Maker(s)
Artist: Formerly attributed to Wang Zhenpeng (傳)王振鵬 (ca. 1280-1329) Copy after Qiu Ying 仇英 (ca. 1494-1552)
Historical period(s)
Ming or Qing dynasty, 17th century
Medium
Ink and color on silk
Dimensions
H x W (image): 32 x 551.2 cm (12 5/8 x 217 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1913.1
On View Location
Freer Gallery 13: Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Handscroll

Keywords
blue-and-green style, chess, China, Daoism, Daoist Immortals, fungus-of-immortality, landscape, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), mountain, peach, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), taijitu
Provenance

To 1913
Dr. Berthold Laufer, Chicago, to 1913 [1]

From 1913 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Dr. Berthold Laufer in 1913 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 919, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. This object exhibits seals, colophons, or inscriptions that could provide additional information regarding the object’s history; see Curatorial Remarks in the object record for further details.

[2] See note 1.

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

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Dr. Berthold Laufer (C.L. Freer source) 1874-1934

Label

Wearing leaf jackets and grass girdles, Daoist immortals participate in various activities in this mountain paradise (dongtian) whose entrance is hidden behind coiling pines. Some admire a painting of taiji (the diagram of cosmological scheme), others play weiqi (Chinese chess), and still others enjoy a hearty feast of wine, magical peaches, and fungus. Painted in the style of famed Ming artist Qiu Ying (circa 1494–1552), this seventeenth-century handscroll brings to mind the many yaji (elegant gathering) paintings in which scholars are depicted practicing calligraphy, painting, chess, and music.

Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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