Summer Retreat / Xie Shichen (Hsieh Shih-ch'en)
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1961/1.161
- Title
- Summer Retreat
- Artist Nationality
- Chinese
- Artist Life Dates
- 1478- after 1567
- Medium and Support
- hanging scroll, ink and light color on silk
- Object Creation Date
- mid 16th century
- Object Creation Place
- Asia (continent)
- China (nation)
- Jiangsu (province)
- Creation Place 1
- Asia (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- China (nation)
- Creation Place 3
- Jiangsu (province)
- Inscription
- Inscription of the artist: Towering cilff, turbulent falls ruse from the flat ground; Lofty tower, hidden retreat leaning on the open heavens. Painted by Hsieh Shih-ch'en. Seal of the artist: Wu-men Hsieh Shih-ch'en t'u-shu chi; Additional Inscriptions and Seals: Unidentified: (seal) Chung-chou shih-chia, (label) Ming...(illegible).
- Dimensions
- 141.92 cm x 72.39 cm (55 7/8 in. x 28 1/2 in.)
- Century
- 16th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Painting
- Primary Object Type
- hanging scroll
- Secondary Object Classification
- Painting
- Secondary Object Type
- landscape
- Physical Description
- This is a very dense landscape painting. There are waterfalls, clouds, trees and cliffs present in the painting. The colors consist of muted greens and browns. Towards the lower half of the painting, there is a view of an interior with four figures present, three of which are sitting at a low table. There is a staircase on the lower right, with a man standing on it, looking upwards. There is also a house on a cliff towards the upper right of the painting. There is calligraphy in the upper right hand corner, with a red seal. There is another red seal, although a bit faded, in the lower left corner of the image.
- Subject Matter
- A close look at this work reveals two distinct approaches to/styles/modes of painting: one,a realistic depiction of figures and architectural details and the other a freer rendering of rocks and trees. In addition the composition has multiple focal points, each illustrating a distinct/different summer activity. These self-contained and independent narratives seem to convey a lack of concern with unifying/reinforce a sense of disunity among the many elements of the painting. Nonetheless, the skill the artist displays in depicting detail results in an appealingly complex, if perhaps unbalanced, work.
- The [combination/use of disparate painting styles in this work may be] due to the fact that Xie Shichen was a Suzhou artist whose painting emulated characteristics of both the professional Zhe School and literati (non-professional artist) Wu School, between which existed a simmering/an incipient artistic rivalry in the early sixteenth century. The Zhe school painters were traditionally associated with the government bureacracy, and often obtained commissions to decorate its buildings [style characterized by]. Wu school painters, who were free from political obligations and constraints, were adept at calligraphy and poetry. Though the styles of these two rival schools became polarized and were rarely combined during the second half of the century, before this they coexisted, as exemplified in this work.
- Primary Keywords
- buildings
- figures (representations)
- houses
- mountains
- nonwoody plants
- plants, herbaceous
- waterfalls
- woody plants
- Secondary Keywords
- upward
- architecture
- bodies of water and components of bodies of water
- buildings and the land
- components of bodies of water
- dwellings
- landforms
- landforms and landform components
- landforms by shape or position
- landscapes (environments)
- natural landscapes
- objects we use
- plants
- residential structures
- settlements and landscapes
- single built works
- single built works by function
- single built works by specific type
- vegetation and vegetation components
- vegetation components
- visual works
- visual works by subject type
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 759 x 1439
- File Size
- 90 KB
- Record
- 1961/1.161
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1961-sl-1.161/1961_1.161.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
- In public portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1961-SL-1.161:1961_1.161.JPG
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
-
"Summer Retreat; Xie Shichen (Hsieh Shih-ch'en)." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1961-sl-1.161/1961_1.161.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 28, 2024.