Landscape after Guo Zhongshu (c. 1680–1705): Art, History and Details

Landscape after Guo Zhongshu (c. 1680–1705) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Bada Shanren (Chinese, 1626–1705).

The work and its context

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

Similar to some calligraphers of his time, Zhu Da rejected conventions in favor of an individual, personal expression. He is known for ambiguous compositions of fish, flowers, birds, and rocks in contrasting ink tonality. As a member of the Ming imperial family, Zhu lost his princely status and hid in a monastery when the Manchus, foreigners from the north, established the Qing dynasty in 1644. In this late work, mountain ranges are rendered in diverse and dense strokes rising toward the top of the scroll. It references the artist Dong Qichang (1555–1636) in concept. Yet the cursory brushwork and composition present Zhu’s personal style.

Object facts

• Title: Landscape after Guo Zhongshu
• Date: c. 1680–1705
• Creator attribution: Bada Shanren (Chinese, 1626–1705)
• Culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
• Dimensions: Painting: 109.9 x 56.4 cm (43 1/4 x 22 3/16 in.); Overall with knobs: 247.7 x 84.5 cm (97 1/2 x 33 1/4 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1955.36

A detail from the museum

Zhu Da's inscription acknowledges that this painting was done after the early Song master Guo Zhongshu 郭忠恕, but there is almost no tangible stylistic relation to be found between Zhu Da and his 10th-century model.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Zhang, Daqian 張大千. Da feng tang shu hua lu 大風堂書畫錄. Chengdu: [publisher not identified], 1943.
• Lee, Sherman E. Chinese Landscape Painting. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1954.
• Sirén, Osvald. Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles. New York: Ronald Press, 1956.

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.