Poem by Wang Wei in the Cursive Script Style China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)

Poem by Wang Wei in the Cursive Script Style

王維詩

1256

Zhang Daqian 張大千

(Chinese, 1899–1983)

China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)

Album leaf; ink on silk

Image: 25.1 x 25.3 cm (9 7/8 x 9 15/16 in.); with mat: 33.3 x 40.5 cm (13 1/8 x 15 15/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1961.421.2

Location: not on view

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Did You Know?

Emperor Lizong had little interest in governmental affairs, but he was perhaps the finest calligrapher among the Song emperors.

Description

Poem and painting, once mounted together as one fan, exemplify the collaboration between imperial patron and court painter. Emperor Lizong’s calligraphy cites a verse from Wang Wei’s (701–761) poem, Walking to where the water ends, I sit and watch when clouds arise.

Ma Lin’s response is this painting. At the water’s edge, a scholar reclines by a large rock. The view leads across the empty middle ground to a distant mountain. With sparse ink and subtly graded washes, Ma Lin visualizes the poetic verse. The painting suggests the impact of Chan aesthetics through interaction between the palace, literati-officials, and monasteries around Hangzhou.