River and Mountain Landscape

Arts of Asia

Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

Xiang Shengmo
Chinese, 1597-1658

Xiang Shengmo was a grandson of Xiang Yuanbian (1525–90), a distinguished connoisseur and collector of painting and calligraphy. The artist drew upon a wide range of ancient sources for his small-scale landscapes, which are renowned for their meticulous draftsmanship and quiet mood. The lone figure depicted here likely represents a reclusive scholar-official who has withdrawn from society into the solitude of nature—an ideal to which Xiang and other artists aspired. The collapse of the Ming dynasty and the loss of his family’s wealth, however, forced Xiang to sell his paintings for a livelihood rather than continue to paint for his own pleasure.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Asia

Artist: Xiang Shengmo
Title: River and Mountain Landscape
Place: China (Artist's nationality)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1368–1662
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Inscriptions: Seals Xiang Bozi suo, relief, square; Chihziye, intaglio, square; Xiang Shengmo yin, intaglio, square
Dimensions: 54.2 × 27 cm (21 5/16 × 10 5/8 in.)
Credit Line: Kate S. Buckingham Endowment Fund
Reference Number: 1952.7
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/76267/manifest.json

Siren, Osvald. Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles. (New York: Ronald Press, 1956-58), vol. VII, Annotated Lists, p. 189

C.T. Loo

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