South Heavenly Gate of Putuo Mountain

Artists

Description

The hanging scroll frames a horizontally oriented color painting. In the foreground, seen from above, green fields adjoin a sand-colored shoreline along a crescent-shaped bay. Boats with rolled sails have docked, and people walk about on shore. In the midground is a wooded outcropping at the left edge of the bay. Across a greater stretch of water are visible several outlying islands. More boats with lowered sails approach the shore, but those receding into the distance beyond the bay have raised sails. A line of Chinese characters runs along the bottom of the left side, with one red square seal below.

Dimensions

painting proper: H. 50.8 × W. 67.9 cm (20 × 26 3/4 in.) overall mounting: H. 184.5 × W. 86 cm (72 5/8 × 33 7/8 in.)

Provenance

Tao Yiqing, Beijing (by 1986), acquired; by Chu-tsing Li, Lawrence, Kansas (by 1986-2012), gift; to his son B U.K. Li, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2012-2021), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2021. Note: Dr. Chu-tsing Li (1920-2014)