Mountains of the Immortals 仙山圖
Chen Ruyan 陳汝言 1300–1370
手卷 — rouleau à main. Faites défiler vers la gauche pour le dérouler, comme on le lit. 3 sections, 3400 × 931 pixels en tout.
Cartel
- Artiste
- Chen Ruyan
- Nom en chinois
- 陳汝言
- Date
- 1300–1370
- Période
- Chine, dynastie des Yuan (1271-1368)
- Format
- Rouleau à main (手卷), se déroule de droite à gauche
- Technique
- Handscroll; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions
- Painting only: 33.4 x 97.3 cm (13 1/8 x 38 5/16 in.); height: 35 cm (13 3/4 in.)
- Collection
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Numéro d’inventaire
- 1997.95
- Provenance
- Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
Ce qu'en dit le musée
The landscape in deep green tones offers a view into a secluded mountain valley, populated by ancient figures surrounded by deer and cranes, all under high pine trees. A red-robed immortal in the air steers his crane toward the paradise land. This idyllic scene was presumably created amid the tumultuous transition from the Yuan to the Ming dynasty. Chen from Suzhou supported major rebel leaders, first Zhang Shicheng (1321–1367) with his base in Suzhou and then his rival Zhu Yuanzhang in Nanjing, after the latter had established the Ming dynasty. Chen was executed in 1371.
Notice de The Cleveland Museum of Art, fiche de l'œuvre.
Le saviez-vous ?
Such blue and green landscapes often evoke nostalgia for the idealized ancient times.
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Inscriptions et sceaux
1 inscription, 3 colophons, and 37 seals: 1 inscription, dated 1371, by Ni Zan 倪瓚 (1301-1374); 17 seals of Xiang Yuanbian 項元汴 (1525-1590); 4 seals of Chu Chih-ch'ih (late Ming Dynasty); 1 seal of Liang Qingbiao 梁淸標 (1620-1691); 1 seal of Gao Shiqi 高士奇 (1645-1704); 4 seals of Lu Xinyuan 陸心源 (1834-1894); 1 colophon, dated 1908, and 5 seals of Jing Xian 景贒; 1 colophon, dated 1915, by Lung Yu; 1 colophon, dated 1932, and 2 seals of Wu Mei; 3 seals unidentified.
仙山圖， 陳君惟允所畫。 秀潤清遠， 深得趙榮祿筆意。 其人已矣， 今不可復得。 辛亥十二月二日倪瓚
Inscription by Ni Zan: The picture of The Land of Immortals was painted by Chen Weiyun 陳惟允 [Chen Ruyan]. Its refinement, mellowness, and purity have succeeded profoundly in capturing the brush ideas of Zhao Mengfu 趙孟頫. Now the gentleman is no longer with us. One will never be able to acquire such a painting again. Ni Zan wrote this on the second day of the twelfth month of the xinhai year, the fourth year of Hongwu [1371].
Colophon by Jing Xian 景贒: The preceding Land of Immortals is an authentic work of the Yuan master, Chen Weiyun 陳惟允. According to the Yu yi bian 寓意編 by Du Mu 都穆of the Ming Dynasty, the painting was seen at the home of Chen Mengxian 陳孟賢 [c. 1500], a hermit. It is also recorded in Yu yi lu 寓意錄 of the present [Qing] era. The dimensions and the seals are all correct. When the painting went into the possession of Liang Qingbiao 梁淸標, the silk was already quite dilapidated. The only thing now missing, however, is the one line of writing by Xiang Zijing 項子京 [Xiang Yuanbian 項元汴] who records the original price he paid, being fifteen taels of silver. This must have been cut off by the dealer, which nevertheless did no harm to a masterpiece such as this. Jing Xian recorded this in the second month of the maoshen year [1908].
Transcription et traduction : The Cleveland Museum of Art