Landscapes
Medium
Set of four hanging scrolls; color on paper
Dimensions
149.8 × 40.7 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Charles L. Freer
Accession Number
1915.97
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
maleAsian (from 1900 to present)
About this artwork
This set of four seasonal landscape hanging scrolls are by Ren Yu. He was the youngest, most eccentric, and least prolific of the Four Rens, a family of prominent painters in Shanghai during the late Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Perhaps due to his opium habit and subsequent financial difficulties, Ren Yu tended to be lackadaisical in his work. The few remaining high-quality paintings hint at his artistic potential lost to opium. Though Ren’s premature death left his artistic promise unfulfilled, hi...