The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Boating in Moonlight

Boating in Moonlight

1600s
(1392–1910)
album leaf, ink on silk
Image: 30 x 26.3 cm (11 13/16 x 10 3/8 in.); Overall: 34.9 x 30.6 cm (13 3/4 x 12 1/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1989.87
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Look how many objects are contained in this little boat—a potted plant, a book, a pear-shaped lute, a tiered lunch box, a tea pot, and a portable stove.

Description

Painted in bold brushstrokes and ink wash, contrasting black and white, and occupied and voided space, this intimately sized painting depicts a scholar-hermit enjoying elegant boating under moonlight. The theme of a moonlight boat excursion below a cliff depicted in this work echoes the tradition of illustrating "Ode to the Red Cliff," a pair of poems by Su Shi, famous Northern Song Chinese poet (1037–1101).
  • ?-1989
    (The Honorable Joseph P. Carroll and Roberta Carroll, MD, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1989
    (Joseph P. Carroll, Ltd., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1989-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Tōyō kaiga no seika: tokubetsuten: Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara [東洋絵画の精華: 特别展: クリーヴラント美術館のコレクションから= Highlights of Asian painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art]. Nara, Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998. Reproduced: p. 80, cat. no. 50
    Treasures from Korea: Arts and Culture of the Joseon Dynasty, 1392-1910. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2014.
    Narrative Figure Paintings of the Joseon Dynasty [조선 시대 고사 인물화]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2016.
    Ch'a, Mi-rae, Kwi-suk An, Cleveland Museum of Art, and 국외소재문화재재단. The Korean Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Edited by An Min-hŭi. First edition, English ed. Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Series, 16. Seoul, Republic of Korea: Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 183, no. 113
  • Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998).
    The Year in Review for 1989. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 6-April 15, 1990).
  • {{cite web|title=Boating in Moonlight|url=false|author=|year=1600s|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1989.87