The Pure Recluse of Bamboo Creek
date: label: Date
content: 15th century
label: Period
content: Ming dynasty
name: label: Artist
content: Formerly attributed to Ni Zan 倪瓚 (1306-1374)
notes: label: Label
content: Ni Zan was an exceptionally popular painter and his style was often imitated by other scholar-artists both during his lifetime and in the centuries that followed. An early example of such imitation, this small handscroll bears a forged inscription of Ni Zan at right, together with a false date of 1363. With only a few minor discrepancies, the inscription contains the same poem that was written by Qian Weishan (see F1915.36d), only here the first line reads, "I often sketch bamboo to give to friends," and the forger has Ni Zan present himself as the author.
label: Label
content: To the left of the painting, Chen Wan (1359-1422), a scholar-official who served at the Ming dynasty court, wrote an inscription dated 1405, which relates that a man named Wan Zifang, also known as The Pure Recluse of Bamboo Creek, asked a relative to bring this scroll to him to inscribe a poem. After doing so, Chen politely added, "Although Zifang and I do not know each other, [just by looking at this painting] one recognizes the personal integrity that instantly separates him from the dust-stained world," implying that only a person who shares the moral attributes of bamboo could own such a painting.
label: Label
content: In 1759, some three-hundred-fifty-four years later, the Qianlong emperor (reigned 1735-96), who also owned the scroll, inscribed another short poem above the painting and impressed a number of his personal seals.
label: Provenance
content: To 1919
label: Provenance
content: You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1919 [1]
label: Provenance
content: 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, through P'ang T'szu Ch'en, in 1919 [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. 1377, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. 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: Three Friends of Winter: Pine, Bamboo, and Plum in Chinese Painting (August 12, 2001 to February 3, 2002)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: You Xiaoxi 游篠溪 (late 19th-early 20th century) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)
label: Topic
content: water
label: Topic
content: river
label: Topic
content: China
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: F1919.10
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 24.3 × 55.4 cm (9 9/16 × 21 13/16 in)