The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Yang Guifei Leaving the Bath

Yang Guifei Leaving the Bath

1700s
(Chinese, 1606–after 1689)
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
Hanging scroll; ink, colors and gold on silk
Painting only: 96.5 x 44.1 cm (38 x 17 3/8 in.); Overall with knobs: 231.8 x 73 cm (91 1/4 x 28 3/4 in.)
Gift of The MCH Foundation 2017.65
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Due to the warm and humid climate in China’s southeast, silk workshops specialized in making airy gauze garments, like the one worn by Yang Guifei here.

Description

This painting alludes to the love story between Tang emperor Xuanzong (reigned 712–56) and his consort Yang Guifei. Yang’s nude body can be seen through the transparent silk-gauze robe as she leaves the bath. The historic scene is set in a southern open interior of the 1700s, offering a view into a garden with a Taihu stone. Yang is shielded by a large painted screen, signed Gu Jianlong, who ran a studio on Tiger Hill in Suzhou. While this painting offers historic and literary allusions for its educated client, the prints nearby imitate its hanging scroll format, the subject matter, composition, and southern-style setting.
  • Mrs. Becker, suburban Kansas City, by descent to her son, Paul Becker
    Paul Becker, sold to Alan Kennedy Ltd.
    ?–2017
    (Alan Kennedy Ltd., sold to the MCH Foundation)
    2017
    MCH Foundation, gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2017–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Spee, Clarissa von. "From the SIlk Road to the Imperial Court: Chinese Textiles in the Cleveland Museum of Art." Arts of Asia 48, no. 3(May-June 2018): 50-56. Reproduced: p. 54, fig. 7
  • China's Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10, 2023-January 7, 2024).
    The Splendor of Chinese Silk – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 5-August 12, 2018).
  • {{cite web|title=Yang Guifei Leaving the Bath|url=false|author=Gu Jianlong|year=1700s|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2017.65