Seclusion in Snow

Original Language Title雪溪隱居（苦瓜妙諦冊）

Series TitleWonderful Conceptions of the Bitter Melon 苦瓜妙諦

Artist Shitao 石濤 (Chinese, 1641 - 1707)

Date1703

MediumAlbum leaf, ink, and color on paper

DimensionsOverall: 22 3/4 × 14 inches (57.79 × 35.56 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: acquired through the generosity of the Hall Family Foundation

Object numberF83-50/12

On View

Not on view

Collections

East Asian Art

Terms

DescriptionSnow-covered mountain landscape beside a river; figure crossing a bridge toward a thatched-roof dwelling where a figure is seated inside.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Century of Tung Ch'i-Ch'ang, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, April 19-June 14, 1992; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, July 19-September 20, 1992; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 23, 1992-January 10, 1993, no. 155.

Tide of Chaos, Fervor Within: Chinese Painters of the 17th Century Respond to Dynastic Upheaval, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, November 26, 2004 – February 3, 2008.

Flowers to Frost: Four Seasons in East Asian Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, January, 5 – July 17, 2016.

Gallery Label

These lyrical paintings, which come from a larger album, highlight features of spring and winter. Shitao subtly presents the seasons with delicate washes and expressive brushwork. In the calligraphic poems, he asserts his thoughts about the transformation of the seasons. On the right leaf, for example, Shitao inscribes: “Spring grasses are green; Spring river has green waves. Spring breeze lingers playfully; Who will not sing about this?”

Provenance

Hsuan Hui T'ang (Cheng Qi);

Purchased from Hsuan Hui T'ang (Cheng Qi) by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1983.

Published References

Lu Xinyuan 陸心源, Rangliguan guoyanlu 穰梨館過眼錄. 1892, juan 36, pp. 18-21.

Duanfang (1861-1911). Collection catalogue.

Hushe yuekan (Hu Sher Art Magazine). Vols. 11-20, nos. 21-40, covers. 1929.

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Calendar, Feb., 1985.

New Acquisition, Archives of Asian Art, XXXX (1986), 80, fig.20,

Roger Ward, ed., A Bountiful Decade: Selected Acquisitions, 1977-1987, exh. cat. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1987), 88-89, no. 35.

Ellen R. Goheen, The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988), no. 109.

Li Chu-tsing, “石濤《苦瓜妙諦冊》” Duoyun, no. 1, (1988), 91-97.

Eastern Art Report. Vol. III, no.6 (1991-92), cover F83-50/12

Wai-kam Ho, ed. The Century of Tung Ch’i-ch’ang, 2 vols. Kansas City, MO,: Nelson-Atkings Museum of Art, 1992. Cat. 155.

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. “Masters of the Ming and Ch’ing dynasties” Calendar, May 1993. (F83-50/12)

Jonathan Hay, Shitao: Painting and Modernity in Early Qing China. (Cambridge University Press, 2001), figs. 133, 144, 152, 154, plates 13.

‘Tide of Chaos” at the Nelson, Kansas City Star (11/21/2004).

Lu Ling-en, “亂世潮流‧真情其中: 納爾遜美術館「17世紀中國繪畫展」” Diancang, May 2005, pp. 58-61.

Jason Steuber, “Politics and Art in Qing China: the Duanfang Collection.” Apollo Vol. CLXII, no. 525 (November 2005), pp. 56-67, fig. 2, 8.

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008).

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.