Between the years 900 and 1100, Chinese painters created visions of landscape that depicted the sublimity of creation. Viewers are meant to identify with the human figures in these paintings. In Summer Mountains, travelers make their way toward a temple retreat. The central mountain sits in commanding majesty, like an emperor among his subjects, the culmination of nature’s hierarchy. The advanced use of texture strokes and ink wash suggests that Summer Mountains is by a master working about 1050, a date corroborated by collectors’ seals belonging to the Song emperor Huizong (r. 1101–25), whose paintings catalogue records three works entitled Summer Scenery by the otherwise unknown artist Qu Ding.
This elegant painting is very old; The Xuanhe seals [of the Song emperor Huizong, r. 1101–1125] makes it even more precious. The objects [in the painting] appear full of life, As if the trees and rocks were drawn from nature. The lush foliage of the summer mountains is moist; The sunny gorges hum with increasing waves. Perching hundreds of feet high, the pavilions appear spacious. How would it feel to lean on a railing and enjoy this view? Imperially inscribed in the first lunar month of the wuchen year (1748).[1]
Qing emperor Xuantong 清帝宣統 (r. 1909–1911) Xuantong yulan zhi bao 宣統御覽之寳 Xuantong jianshang 宣統鋻賞 Wuyi Zhai jingjian xi 無逸齋精鋻璽
Wang Jiqian 王季遷 (C. C. Wang, 1907–2003) Zhenze Wang shi Jiqian shoucang 震澤王氏季遷收藏 Huaiyun Lou jianshang shuhua zhi ji 懷雲樓鋻賞書畫之記
Illegible: 1
[1] Translation from Department records.
C. C. Wang , New York (until 1973; sold to The Dillon Fund); The Dillon Fund , New York (1973; donated to MMA)
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London. British Museum. "Song and Yuan Paintings," November 7, 1975–January 4, 1976.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Summer Mountains: The Timeless Landscape," April 9–October 3, 1976.
Princeton University Art Museum. "Images of the Mind: Selections from the Edward L. Elliot Family and John B. Elliott Collections of Chinese Calligraphy and Painting at the Art Museum, Princeton University," April 15–June 17, 1984.
Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art. "Landscape Painting in the East and West," April 17, 1986–June 1, 1986.
Kobe City Museum. "Landscape Painting in the East and West," June 7, 1986–July 13, 1986.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Images of the Mind: Selections from the Edward L. Elliot Family and John B. Elliott Collections of Chinese Calligraphy and Painting at the Art Museum, Princeton University," September 18, 1987–January 10, 1988.
Zurich. Museum Rietberg. "The Mandate of Heaven: Emperors and Artists in China," April 2, 1996–July 7, 1996.
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New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The New Chinese Galleries: An Inaugural Installation," 1997.
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New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The World of Scholars' Rocks: Gardens, Studios, and Paintings," February 1–August 20, 2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Millennium of Chinese Painting: Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection," September 8, 2001–January 13, 2002.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Douglas Dillon Legacy: Chinese Painting for the Metropolitan Museum," March 12–August 8, 2004.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Four Seasons," January 28–August 13, 2006.
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New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Gardens: Pavilions, Studios, Retreats," August 18, 2012–January 6, 2013.
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New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Up Close," January 25, 2020–June 27, 2021.
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Wang Jie 王杰 et al. Midian zhulin shiqu baoji xubian 秘殿珠林石渠寶笈續編 (Catalogue of painting and calligraphy in the Qianlong imperial collection, second series). Preface dated 1793. Facsimile reprint of an original manuscript copy. 8 vols. vol. 2, Taipei: National Palace Museum, 1971, pp. 931–32.
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Fong, Wen C. Summer Mountains: The Timeless Landscape. Exh. cat. [New York]: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975, cat. no. 13, figs. 14, 15, 18, 20.
Cahill, James. An Index of Early Chinese Painters and Paintings: T'ang, Sung, and Yüan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980.
Suzuki Kei 鈴木敬, ed. Chûgoku kaiga sogo zuroku: Daiikan, Amerika-Kanada Hen 中國繪畫總合圖錄: 第一卷 アメリカ - カナダ 編 (Comprehensive illustrated catalog of Chinese paintings: vol. 1 American and Canadian collections) Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1982, p. 9, cat. no. A1-017.
Barnhart, Richard M. Along the Border of Heaven: Sung and Yüan Paintings from the C. C. Wang Family Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983, pp. 38–39, figs. 7–8.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983, p. 258, fig. 41.
Fong, Wen C. et al. Images of the Mind: Selections from the Edward L. Elliott Family and John B. Elliott Collections of Chinese Calligraphy and Painting at the Art Museum, Princeton University. Exh. cat. Princeton, N.J.: Art Museum, Princeton University in association with Princeton University Press, 1984, p. 44, fig. 47.
Barnhart, Richard M. (Introduction). The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Asia. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987, pp. 60–61, cat. no. 34.
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Burn, Barbara, ed. Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993, pp. 176–77.
Howard, Kathleen, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 2nd ed., New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994, p. 110, fig. 41.
Törmä, Minna. Landscape Experience as Visual Narrative: Northern Song Dynasty Landscape Handscrolls in the Li Cheng–Yan Wengui Tradition. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2002, p. 107, figs. 3–3.31.
Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. Accumulating Culture: The Collections of Emperor Huizong. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2008, pp. 389–91, fig. 17.
Hearn, Maxwell K. How to Read Chinese Paintings. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008, pp. 20–27, cat. no. 4.
Clapp, Anne de Coursey. Commemorative Landscape Painting in China. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012, p. 36, fig. 13.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012, p. 90.
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He Muwen 何慕文 (Hearn, Maxwell K.). Ruhe du Zhongguo hua: Daduhui Yishu Bowuguan cang Zhongguo shuhua jingpin daolan 如何读中国画 : 大都会艺术博物馆藏中国书画精品导览 (How to read Chinese paintings) Translated by Shi Jing 石静. Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2015, pp. 20–27, cat. no. 4.
Pengliang Lu. Recasting the Past: The Art of Chinese Bronzes, 1100–1900,. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2025, pp. 56, 273, fig. 9.
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