Winter Landscape

DateYuan Dynasty (1271-1368), late 13th century

DimensionsPainting: 21 11/16 in. x 15 ft. 9 1.4 in. (55 cm x 4.8 m)
Scroll: 22 3/16 in. x 33 ft. 4 3/16 in. (56.4 cm x 10.2 m)

MediumInk and opaque colors on silk

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1927.151

Not on View

Label TextLike a piece of music, the composition of this unusually long hand scroll—more than 33 feet—flows rhythmically through varied stretches of grand landscapes. But the scroll, which reads from right to left, was never intended to be seen all at once; rather, a seated viewer unrolled it only an arm’s-length section at a time. Each section allowed the viewer to nourish and refresh his spirit by taking an imaginary journey, over time, through a landscape representing a microcosm of the whole of nature. This goal—to wander through time and space—explains in part the shifting perspectives throughout the painting. The men and animals that populate the painting are nearly lost in the vastness of the landscape. This depiction was in concert with the beliefs of Daoism, where humankind is deemed insignificant to the power of nature. Many scholars believe this is among the oldest surviving Chinese hand scrolls known. It reproduces an important lost scroll painted more than two centuries earlier by Guo Xi (1020–1090), who was both an artist and the author of an important treatise on landscape painting. The unknown painter of this scroll was not considered less worthy for imitating an existing work. Styles developed by past great masters were revered at the emperor’s court, whose artists studied and reproduced them by imperial order so that they could maintain a sense of identity with tradition.Published ReferencesThe Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 24-25, repr. (col.) and (det.).Exhibition HistoryAnn Arbor, MI. University of Michigan Museum of Art. 1962.

Nelson-Atkins Gallery of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. 1969.

Asia House Gallery, New York, N.Y. 1970.