Clouds and Waves at the Wu Gorge (c. 1547–67): Art, History and Details

Clouds and Waves at the Wu Gorge (c. 1547–67) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Xie Shichen (Chinese, 1487–after 1567).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This dramatic landscape was probably painted after Xie Shichen returned from a journey in 1547 that took him through various provinces of China, including Sichuan Province in southwest China and sailing the Yangzi River. The composition from a high vantage point offers a view deep into the Wu Gorge where rolling waves put a ship in peril. The scale and composition of this landscape, which was inspired by the majestic mountain scenery in Sichuan Province, as well as Xie’s vigorous brushwork, are exceptional.

Object facts

• Title: Clouds and Waves at the Wu Gorge
• Date: c. 1547–67
• Creator attribution: Xie Shichen (Chinese, 1487–after 1567)
• Culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper
• Dimensions: Painting: 243.1 x 90 cm (95 11/16 x 35 7/16 in.); Overall with knobs: 295.6 x 115 cm (116 3/8 x 45 1/4 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1968.213

A detail from the museum

This large painting was likely created for a wealthy or powerful family's grand hall to impress their visitors.

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Tō Sō Gen Min meigaten-gō [唐宋元明名画展号]. Tōkyō: Tōkyō Asahi Shinbun Hakkōjo, 1928.
• Harada, Kinjirō 原田謹次郎. Shina meiga hōkan [支那名畫寶鑒 = The pageant of Chinese painting]. Tōkyō: Ōtsuka Kōgeisha, 1936.
• Sirén, Osvald. A History of Later Chinese Painting. London: The Medici Society, 1938.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.