Clouds and Waves at the Wu Gorge

Download1283 × 3400 px View on a wall Edit

Artist: Xie Shichen (Chinese, 1487–1572)
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper
Size: Painting: 243.1 x 90 cm (95 11/16 x 35 7/16 in.); Overall with knobs: 295.6 x 115 cm (116 3/8 x 45 1/4 in.)
Culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

This dramatic landscape was probably painted after Xie Shichen returned from a journey in 1547 that took him through various provinces of China, including Sichuan Province in southwest China and sailing the Yangzi River. The composition from a high vantage point offers a view deep into the Wu Gorge where rolling waves put a ship in peril. The scale and composition of this landscape, which was inspired by the majestic mountain scenery in Sichuan Province, as well as Xie’s vigorous brushwork, are exceptional.