Poem by Wang Wei in the Cursive Script Style
Medium
Album leaf; ink on silk
Dimensions
image: 25.1 × 25.3 cm · with mat: 33.3 × 40.5 cm
Classification
Calligraphy
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1961.421.2
Tags
male
About this artwork
Poem and painting, once mounted together as one fan, exemplify the collaboration between imperial patron and court painter. Emperor Lizong’s calligraphy cites a verse from Wang Wei’s (701–761) poem, Walking to where the water ends, I sit and watch when clouds arise. Ma Lin’s response is this painting. At the water’s edge, a scholar reclines by a large rock. The view leads across the empty middle ground to a distant mountain. With sparse ink and subtly graded washes, Ma Lin visualizes the poetic ...