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)
Ten Thousand Mountains in Snowfront, painting only

© the artist's estate

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Ten Thousand Mountains in Snow

  • Description

    Xiao Sun was from Huaining in Anhui province. He travelled throughout China and eventually settled in Beijing, where he held a succession of teaching posts. He was also an active member of Chen Hengke’s Society for the Study of Chinese Painting in the 1920s.

    Here the artist inscribes: 'I once saw a painting of snow by Gengyan sanren [aka Wang Hui (1632-1717)] in the style of Youcheng [aka Wang Wei (AD 701-761)]; it is neat and tidy, but too rigid. It is not as good as the works of Shi Tao [c.1642-1707], which are rough and untidy, but appear more interesting. That is [a level that] I cannot reach; this painting only achieves a similar appearance’. He adds: ‘I have made four paintings with titles starting with the numbers “ten”, “hundred”, “thousand” and “ten thousand”, and I believe they deserve to be treasured’.

  • Details

    show all
    Associated place
    Asia › China (place of creation)
    Asia › China › Anhui province › Mount Huang (subject)
    Date
    1942
    Artist/maker
    Xiao Sun (1883 - 1944) (artist)
    Material and technique
    ink and slight colour on paper
    Dimensions
    mount 234.5 x 59.8 cm approx. (height x width)
    painting 106.3 x 49 cm (height x width)
    along roller 69.3 cm (length)
    rolled 6.5 cm (diameter)
    Material index
    processed material › paper
    Technique index
    painted,
    covered › coated › painted,
    marked › painted,
    decorated › painted,
    drawn (image) › line drawing › brush drawing
    Object type index
    communications equipment › art/writing equipment › scroll › hanging scroll,
    visual representation › painting,
    visual representation › scroll › hanging scroll
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Purchased, 1962.
    Accession no.
    EA1962.230

  • Further reading

    Vainker, Shelagh, Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2000), no. 145 on p. 170, illus. p. 171 fig. 145

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

    Xiao Sun was from Huaining in Anhui province, where he first learnt to paint with Jiang Yun (1847-1919). He travelled throughout China and eventually settled in Peking, where he held a succession of teaching posts, and was an active member of Chen Hengke's Society for the Study of Chinese Painting in the 1920s. He was one of the major early twentieth century promoters of the early Qing individualist painter Dao Ji, who was also from Anhui.
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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