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Waiting for the Ferry

early 13th century
Not on view
In this stark scene of barren trees and snow-covered, distant mountains, the artist has combined the "one-corner" compositional formula of the Song Imperial Painting Academy with the Fan Kuan (active ca. (990–1030) idiom of "small ax-cut" stippled rocks and stocky trees with bare, stubby branches to evoke a mood of chilly quietude. The scene focuses on two travelers awaiting the arrival of a ferryman in his small boat. The angular foreground boulders and spiky trees contrast with the gray-and-white expanse of water, sky, and snowshrouded mountains, set off by a flock of circling birds—emphasizing the sense of hushed stillness.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 南宋 佚名 雪景待渡圖 團扇
  • Title: Waiting for the Ferry
  • Artist: Unidentified artist Chinese
  • Period: Song dynasty (960–1279)
  • Date: early 13th century
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink on silk
  • Dimensions: 9 7/8 x 10 1/8 in. (25.1 x 25.7 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1913
  • Object Number: 13.100.117
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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