The Wang River estate
date: label: Date
content: 1570s
label: Period
content: Ming dynasty
name: label: Artist
content: Attributed to Song Xu (1525-ca. 1606)
label: Artist
content: Formerly attributed to Wang Meng 王蒙 (ca. 1308-1385)
notes: label: Label
content: Located in the foothills south of the imperial capital at Chang'an (modern Xi'an), Wang River Estate was the country retreat of the court official Wang Wei (701-761), a renowned Tang dynasty poet and painter. Wang once painted twenty of his favorite locations on the property and composed an accompanying series of short poems. While the estate encompassed many wild areas and was not a garden in the conventional sense, Wang's famous depiction inspired later generations to incorporate similar combinations of water and land, mountain and valley, and cultivated and uncultivated into their garden architecture. This long handscroll painting is an imaginative re-creation of Wang's composition.
label: Provenance
content: To 1909
label: Provenance
content: An unnamed Mandarin owner, to 1909 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1909 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from an unnamed Mandarin owner, through Riu Cheng Chai, 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. 666, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Accession List, Collections Management office. 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: Style in Chinese Landscape Painting: The Yuan Legacy (November 22, 2014 to May 31, 2015)
label: Exhibition History
content: Guests of the Hills: Travelers in Chinese Landscape Painting (August 23, 2008 to March 15, 2009)
label: Exhibition History
content: East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art (February 24 to May 13, 2007)
label: Exhibition History
content: In the Mountains (January 31 to August 2, 1998)
label: Exhibition History
content: Studies in Connoisseurship 1923-1983 (September 23, 1983 to March 1, 1984)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Calligraphy (May 9, 1980 to November 14, 1980)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: A Selection of Art Objects from the Freer Collection Exhibited in the New Building of the National Museum (April 15 to June 15, 1912)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Riu Cheng Chai (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: Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)
label: Topic
content: garden
label: Topic
content: Wangchuan Villa
label: Topic
content: Wang Wei
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: F1909.207
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): 30 x 1075.6 cm (11 13/16 x 423 7/16 in)