Label
This handscroll illustrates a long rhapsody, or prose-poem (fu), written in 222 C.E. by the poet and prince Cao Zhi (192-232 C.E.), in which he describes his romantic encounter with the nymph, or goddess, of the Luo River in central China. Slightly less than half the work's original length, this scroll is one of the three important Song copies--the other two are in China in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and the Liaoning Provincial Museum--of an original composition traditionally attributed to the fourth-century pioneering figure Gu Kaizhi.
In this narrative scroll, figures are disproportionately large in relation to the landscape in which stylized elements are little more than stages set for various plots, and represent the beginning in the development of Chinese landscape painting. In this section, the goddess mounts her dragon-drawn chariot and departs over the waves, attended by a retinue of fantastic creatures.
To learn more about this and similar objects, visit http://www.asia.si.edu/SongYuan/default.asp Song and Yuan Dynasty Painting and Calligraphy.
Provenance
Li Lung-mien [1]
Duanfang (1861-1911) [2]
To 1914
Dr. John Calvin Ferguson (1866-1945), Beijing, to 1914 [3]
From 1914 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Dr. John C. Ferguson in 1914 [4]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [5]
Notes:
[1] See Curatorial Remark 3, Ma Soo, 1917, in the object record. This object exhibits seals, colophons, or inscriptions that could provide additional information regarding the object’s history; see Curatorial Remarks in the object record for further details.
[2] See Curatorial Remark 9, James F. Cahill, 1958, in the object record. According to Ingrid Larsen, "'Don’t Send Ming or Later Pictures': Charles Lang Freer and the First Major Collection of Chinese Painting in an American Museum," Ars Orientalis vol. 40 (2011), pgs. 19-20, "Ferguson became a Chinese art scholar and dealer who helped Freer acquire perhaps the most famous painting in Duanfang's collection, Nymph of the Luo River..."
[3] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 832, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
[4] See note 1.
[5] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History
Setting the Bar: Arts of the Song dynasty (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
Masterpieces of Chinese Painting (IV) (June 12 to November 28, 2010)
Tales of the Brush: Chinese Painting with Literary Themes (February 9 to July 27, 2008)
Boating on a River (February 12 to August 14, 2005)
Masterpieces of Chinese Painting (III) (May 29, 1999 to January 30, 2000)
Masterpieces of Chinese Painting (II) (May 9, 1993 to May 31, 1994)
Masterpieces of Chinese Painting (I) (August 3, 1984 to February 7, 1985)
Chinese Figure Painting (September 17, 1973 to January 3, 1975)
Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)
Chinese Paintings (June 5, 1957 to January 1, 1963)
Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting, East Corridor (November 10, 1955 to February 25, 1956)
Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting, Gallery 1, 1955 (April 11, 1955 to December 12, 1955)
Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 1947 (January 7, 1947 to April 11, 1955)
Special Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1946 (August 7, 1946 to January 7, 1947)
Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Metalwork, Pottery, and Painting (March 23, 1944 to May 2, 1946)
Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting and Metalwork, 1943 (October 4, 1943 to March 23, 1944)
Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Paintings, 1924 (June 2, 1924 to March 14, 1931)
Chinese Panels and Scrolls (May 2, 1923 to June 2, 1924)
Previous custodian or owner
Duanfang 端方 (1861-1911)
John Calvin Ferguson (1866-1945) (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)