Landscape with Poetic Couplet
Artist/Maker
Wáng Huī 王翚 / 王翬
(Chinese, 1632–1717)
Datelate 17th–early 18th century
MediumHanging scroll, ink and color on silk
DimensionsOverall: 14 3/4 × 10 3/4 in. (37.5 × 27.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of Charles L. Freer
Object number1912.45
Status
Not on viewOriginally a leaf from an album, this painting shows a small village or compound nestled among plants and trees by a river bend, as a nearby waterfall descends below a rocky outcropping. It is an excellent example of the type of literati-style painting popular at the imperial court in the early 18th century. The restlessness and dramatic, tectonic forms may reflect influences from Yuan dynasty master Wáng Méng 王蒙 (ca. 1308–1385), whose works the artist had studied in the 1660s.
Wáng Huī grew up in a family of painters and was discovered as a child prodigy. He became a pupil of Wáng Jiàn 王鉴 / 王鑑 (ca. 1598–1677) and subsequently of Wáng Shímǐn王时敏 / 王時敏 (1592–1680), both of whom were prominent painters of the Orthodox School. Wáng Huī began with emulation of the expressive brushwork of the late Yuan masters, as well as the more descriptive one of the Song landscape masters. But he soon began to explore his own transformation of all the ancient styles and to search for a “Great Synthesis.” Wáng Huī was recognized as one of a respected group known as the “Four Wangs,” together with Wáng Jiàn, Wáng Shímǐn, and Wáng Yuánqí 王原祁 (1642–1715).
INSCRIPTION: LANDSCAPE WITH POETIC COUPLET
自喜軒窓無俗韻，亦知草木有真香*。
烏目山人王翬
Despite my wish to seclude myself from the mundane,
I appreciate the true fragrance of all the weeds and trees.*
The Hermit of Wumu, Wáng Huī
* Original poem by Zhū Yízūn朱彝尊 (1629–1709)
Exhibition History
Wáng Huī grew up in a family of painters and was discovered as a child prodigy. He became a pupil of Wáng Jiàn 王鉴 / 王鑑 (ca. 1598–1677) and subsequently of Wáng Shímǐn王时敏 / 王時敏 (1592–1680), both of whom were prominent painters of the Orthodox School. Wáng Huī began with emulation of the expressive brushwork of the late Yuan masters, as well as the more descriptive one of the Song landscape masters. But he soon began to explore his own transformation of all the ancient styles and to search for a “Great Synthesis.” Wáng Huī was recognized as one of a respected group known as the “Four Wangs,” together with Wáng Jiàn, Wáng Shímǐn, and Wáng Yuánqí 王原祁 (1642–1715).
INSCRIPTION: LANDSCAPE WITH POETIC COUPLET
自喜軒窓無俗韻，亦知草木有真香*。
烏目山人王翬
Despite my wish to seclude myself from the mundane,
I appreciate the true fragrance of all the weeds and trees.*
The Hermit of Wumu, Wáng Huī
* Original poem by Zhū Yízūn朱彝尊 (1629–1709)
A Century of Asian Art at Oberlin: Chinese Paintings
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (June 6, 2017 - December 10, 2017 )
Collections
- Asian
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first half 20th century
first half 20th century
early 19th century
18th–19th century
first half 20th century
first half 20th century
19th century