Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Chinese Landscapes from the Ashmolean Collection

(from 9th Feb until 21st Jul 2013)

Explore the continued tradition of Chinese landscape painting in this complement to the Xu Bing show.

Detail of River Landscape, by Zha Shibiao, Yangzhou, China, 1666 (Museum No: EA1980.142)
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River landscape

  • Description

    Zha Shibiao, also known as Meihe or Erzhan, was from Xin’an in Anhui province. He is regarded as one of the four masters of the Xin’an School, and is renowned for his dry brushwork and sparse composition. The artist studied for the civil service examinations before the fall of the Ming dynasty, and it has been suggested that his subsequent departure from official life in favour of painting may have been prompted by lack of sympathy for the new rule.

    From the 1670s onwards Zha Shibiao lived in Yangzhou. His family owned collections of paintings and bronzes, and he himself was a connoisseur. In painting he followed his contemporary Hong Ren (1610-1664) and the Yuan master Ni Zan (1301-1374). On this painting is inscribed: ‘The pond in the mountain floods after a shower’.

  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia China (place of creation)
    Date
    probably 1666
    Artist/maker
    Zha Shibiao (1615 - 1698) (artist)
    Associated people
    Wang Shilu (1626 - 1673) (recipient)
    Material and technique
    ink and colour on paper
    Dimensions
    mount 55.6 x 40.7 cm (height x width)
    page 26.7 x 22.5 cm (height x width)
    painting 19 x 17.5 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Purchased with the assistance of the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, theArt Fund, and Friends of the Ashmolean Museum, 1980.
    Accession no.
    EA1980.143
  • Further reading

    Vainker, Shelagh, Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2000), no. 160 on p. 184, illus. p. 185 fig. 160

Past Exhibition

see (1)

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford by Shelagh Vainker

    Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

    Zha Shibiao was from Haiyang near Xiuying in Anhui province and is associated with the Anhui School, renowned for dry brushwork and sparse composition. Zha Shibiao studied for the civil service examinations before the fall of the Ming dynasty, and it has been suggested that his subsequent departure from official life in favour of painting may have been prompted by lack of sympathy for the new rule. His family owned collections of paintings and bronzes and he himself was a connoisseur. In painting he followed his near contemporary Hong Ren and the Yuan master Ni Zan. From the 1670s onwards he lived in Yangzhou.
Notice

Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.

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