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Towing Boats under Clearing Skies after Snow
recto overall
recto overall

Towing Boats under Clearing Skies after Snow

Original Language Title仿郭忠恕 雪霽江行圖卷
Former TitleTowing a Boat under Clearing Skies
Artist Unknown
Artist After Guo Zhongsu (仿)郭忠恕 (Chinese, Active 10th century)
Date12th-14th century
MediumHandscroll; ink on silk
DimensionsOverall: 20 3/4 × 56 1/4 inches (52.71 × 142.88 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number31-135/33
On View
Not on view
Collections
DescriptionTwo boats loaded with passengers and cargo, being towed up the river, with snow-covered mountains in the far distance. Has been trimmed somewhat along both upper and lower edges.Exhibition History

Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, February 18-December 2, 1939, no. 133.

ight Dynasties of Chinese Painting, Nelson-Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, November 7, 1980 – January 4, 1981; The Cleveland Museum of Art, no. 77.

Flowers to Frost: Four Seasons in East Asian Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, January 18 - July 17, 2016.



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Gallery Label
This scroll depicts a busy winter scene on a waterfront. The sky is clear after heavy overnight snow. Despite the cold, crews tow heavy-laden boats toward the riverbank. A man on the deck hunches his back against the cold air while others work to dock the vessels. A dog on the second ship’s bow faithfully safeguards the freight. At the end of the day, it may be a playful companion for the sailors.
Provenance

Imperial collection, the Qing dynasty (1816 – early 20th c.)

Celestin Liu;

Purchased from Celestin Liu by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, in 1931.




Published References

Hu Jing, et al. comp, Shiqu baoji sanbian [Catalogue of painting and calligraphy in the imperial collection, part III], 1816. Facsimile reprint. (Taipei: 1969), 481-81.

Hu Jing, Xiqing zaji [Notes on painting and calligraphy examined by the author], 1816. Ch. 1, pp. 3-4.

Chen Rentao [J. D. Chen], Gugong yiyi shuhua mu [An Annotated list of lost calligraphy and painting from the Qing palace collection]. (Hong Kong: 1956), 10a.

Robert J. Maeda, “Chieh-hua: Ruled Line Painting in China” Ars Orientalis, vol. X (1975), 127-30, pl. 2. (repro.)

To Gen, Kyonen [Tong Yuan, Churan], Bunjinga suihen [essence of Chinese and Japanese literati painting] vol. II. (Tokyo: 1977), 100, 154, no. 84. (repro.)

Wai-Kam Ho, et al., Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and The Cleveland Museum of Art. (The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, c1980), 96-97, no. 77. (repro.)

Suzuki Kei, History of Chinese Painting, Vol. I  (Tokyo: 1980), 159, no. 162. (repro.)

People and Places of the Past. The National Geographic Illustrated Cutural Atlas of the Ancient World (Washington, D.C.: 1983), 270-271, detail color illus. (repro.)

Alaisdair Clayre, The Heart of the Dragon (London: 1984), 252-253, detail (color). (repro.)

Suzuki Kei, Zhongguo huihua shi, translated by Wei Mei-yueh (Taipei: 1987), pl. 162. (repro.)



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