The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Clouds and Waves at the Wu Gorge

Clouds and Waves at the Wu Gorge

c. 1547–67
(Chinese, 1487–after 1567)
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.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

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

Description

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.
  • Tanaka Buhei 田中武兵衛 [early 1900s], Tokyo, Japan
    ?–1968
    (Cheng Qi 程琦 [1911–1988], Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1968–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Tō Sō Gen Min meigaten-gō [唐宋元明名画展号]. Tōkyō: Tōkyō Asahi Shinbun Hakkōjo, 1928. I, 134
    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. pl. 605
    Sirén, Osvald. A History of Later Chinese Painting. London: The Medici Society, 1938. Mentioned: I, Lists, 215
    Harada, Kinjirō 原田謹次郎. Nihon genzai Shina meiga mokuroku 日本現在支那名畫目錄. Tōkyō: Ōtsuka Kōgeisha, 1938. p. 172
    Zheng, Zhenduo 鄭振鐸. Yu wai suo cang Zhongguo gu hua ji [8 zhong, 8 ji] 域外所藏中國古畫集 [8種, 8輯]. Shanghai: Shanghai chu ban gong si, 1947. Mentioned and Reproduced: ser. 6, pt. 2, pl. 57
    Sirén, Osvald. Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles. New York: Ronald Press, 1956. Mentioned: VII, Lists, 192.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 351 archive.org
    Lawton, Mary S. Hsieh Shih-Chʻên: A Ming Dynasty Painter Reinterprets the Past. Chicago: The University, 1978. Reproduced: cat. no. 1
    Ho, Wai-kam, Sherman E. Lee, Laurence Sickman, and Marc F. Wilson. Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1980. Reproduced: cat. no. 169, pp. 214-215
    Steuber, Jason. China: 3000 Years of Art and Literature. New York: Welcome Books, 2007. p. 64
    Fu, Li-tsui Flora. Framing Famous Mountains: Grand Tour and Mingshan Paintings in Sixteenth-Century China. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2009. Reproduced: Plate 12
    Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Reproduced: pp. 279-281
  • Inspired by Chinese Landscape and Art – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 14, 2017-February 5, 2018).
    Ji Yunfei: Last Days of Village Wen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 12-July 31, 2016).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 119). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 29, 2003-March 15, 2004).
    Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
    Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 10-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982).
    Hsieh Shih-ch'en: a Ming dynasty painter reinterprets the past. Smart Gallery, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (January 12-February 26, 1978).
    The Paintings of Hsieh Shih-ch'en. The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL (organizer) (January 11-February 26, 1978).
    Year in Review: 1968. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29-March 9, 1969).
    To-So-Gen-Min, II. Tokyo Imperial Museum, Tokyo, Japan (November 24-December 16, 1928).
  • {{cite web|title=Clouds and Waves at the Wu Gorge|url=false|author=Xie Shichen|year=c. 1547–67|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1968.213