The hall of scenic beauty 有美堂圖
date: label: Date
content: 17th century
label: Period
content: Ming or Qing dynasty
name: label: Artist
content: Copy after Qiu Ying 仇英 (ca. 1494-1552)
notes: label: Description
content: Depicts, in the "blue and green style," a dwelling with an open pavilion overlooking a bay. The mountainous landscape is dotted with various trees, some flowering; roofs of a group of buildings can be seen at the right. Groups of commercial and fishing boats are moored and sailing in the bay. In the open pavilion, two attendants stand beside three gentlemen who are seated at a table set with food and drink. Two figures occupy a room below. Outside the building, a groom attends a horse, an attendant carries a rolled banner, and another carries a bundle of scrolls. Six seals, siganture and inscription, label on back. One of two with F1909.157.
label: Signatures
content: Signature on back
label: Marks
content: Six seals, label on back.
label: Inscriptions
content: Inscription on back
label: Label
content: The Hall of Scenic Beauty was built in 1057 by the imperial favorite Mei Zhi (act. 1020s-60s), while he was stationed in the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Two years later, he requested the renowned prose master Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) to memorialize the hall. An excerpt from this text is inscribed on the painting at upper right. Built between a river and a lake and bounded by mountains, the city of Hangzhou was widely considered one of the most beautifully situated urban centers in the empire. Providing both a panorama of the city below and a commanding view of the natural surroundings, the Hall of Scenic Beauty became a popular destination for day trips and appears in many contemporary poems.
label: Label
content: This painting is a seventeenth-century copy of a composition attributed to the Ming dynasty painter Qiu Ying, whose spurious signature appears at lower left. The excerpt from Ouyang Xiu's essay at upper right was ostensibly written by the famous calligrapher Zhu Yunming (1461-1527), however the style of writing does not resemble his known works. This scroll is one of a pair with F1909.157.
label: Provenance
content: To 1909
label: Provenance
content: Loon Gu Sai, Beijing, to 1909 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1909 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Loon Gu Sai, Beijing, in 1909 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 614, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. According to Ingrid Larsen, "'Don’t Send Ming or Later Pictures': Charles Lang Freer and the First Major Collection of Chinese Painting in an American Museum," Ars Orientalis vol. 40 (2011), Loon Gu Sai was possibly Lunguzhai, a store in the antiques district of Liulichang.
label: Provenance
content: This object exhibits seals, colophons, or inscriptions that could provide additional information regarding the object’s history; see Curatorial Remarks in the object record for further details.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
label: Exhibition History
content: Palaces and Pavilions: Grand Architecture in Chinese Painting (September 29, 2002 to March 30, 2003)
label: Exhibition History
content: On the River (April 01, 1995 to January 23, 1996)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Loon Gu Sai (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: landscape
label: Topic
content: spring
label: Topic
content: horse
label: Topic
content: Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)
label: Topic
content: fishing
label: Topic
content: Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911)
label: Topic
content: commerce
label: Topic
content: river
label: Topic
content: boat
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: blue-and-green style
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1909.156
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink and color on silk
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 196.2 x 98.2 cm (77 1/4 x 38 11/16 in)