https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/71530/fullLandscapeearly 17th century35 1/2 x 18 inches (90.2 x 45.7 cm)Hanging scroll: ink on paperGift of Professor Harold Shadick71.1150A lakeshore landscape with distant mountains in the background, a cluster of trees and large rocks on shore in the foreground, and the body of water occupies most of the middle ground. A man is sitting on a boat and gazing out at the water. Inscription, signature and seals by the artist. Xiang Shengmo was the grandson of the great Ming Dynasty collector and connoissseur Xiang Yuanbian, whose personal collection of ancient Chinese paintings was unmatched in his time for both quality and quantity. As a consequence of such exposure to great masterpieces of the past, Xiang Shengmo's paintings have much of the "flavor of the ancients" so greatly admired in the late Ming period. This particular painting captures nicely the gentle and idyllic peacefulness associated with the Sung period. MWY label.Paintings18527037619Xiang ShengmoChinaThe inscription reads:
Forest trees, luxuriant and pure, don shadows
Winds and mists buffet the depth of the Five Lakes
My home seems to be in dwelling upon the Five Lakes
Only in a small boat, not following the common way
Xiang Shengmo was the grandson of the great Ming dynasty collector and connoissseur Xiang Yuanbian, whose personal collection of ancient Chinese paintings was unmatched in his time for both quality and quantity. As a consequence of such exposure to great masterpieces of the past, Xiang Shengmo's paintings have much of the "flavor of the ancients" so greatly admired in the late Ming period. This landscape follows in the style of the Yuan dynasty master Ni Zan (1301-1374).
The poem's reference to dwelling in a boat (a metaphor for a world away from human society) may also be a reference to Ni's life, since the Yuan painter spent the latter part of his life as a lone wanderer in a small houseboat.
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