This painting and the one on display on the opposite side of the door-way are both from an album that Shitao created in the final year of his life. The theme of the album is the recollection of the years he lived in Nanjing as a monk. Several of the twelve album leaves hint at the artist's impending death, but this scene suggests a pure reflection of past happiness. The inscription adds to the sensory impact of the painting and mentions the sounds of nature and man-birds and temple bells.
The composition is daring in its asymmetry and weighting of the landscape elements to one side. This slightly skewed effect exemplifies how Shitao used his exceptional skill as a painter to create engaging and seemingly naive images in the spirit of the Daoist principle that the "greatest skill seems like clumsiness." Shitao perfected an approach to art that profoundly influenced the evolution of Chinese painting.
Provenance:
To?
Zhang Daqian (1899-1983). [1]
To 1987
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), New York. [2]
From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York. [3]
Notes:
[1] See object record.
[2] See note 1.
[3] See note 1.
Collection:
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Exhibition History:
The Arts of China (November 18, 1990 to September 7, 2014)
Pavilions and Immortal Mountains: Chinese Decorative Art and Paintings (September 28, 1987 to February 28, 1988)
Rarities of Chinese Painting in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections (December 8, 1973 to June 29, 1986)
