Guo Xi, the preeminent landscape painter of the late eleventh century, sought to give form to poetic images and emotions and was particularly interested in conveying the nuances of seasons and times of day. Old Trees, Level Distance,a variation on the classic “level-distance” formula of tall foreground trees set against a wide river valley, is probably a late work done for a fellow government official on the eve of his retirement. In the final section of the handscroll, the leafless trees and deepening mist impart a forlorn, autumnal air to a scene in which two elderly figures approach a pavilion, perhaps to join colleagues in bidding farewell to a friend.
Layered mists and dense fog obscure storied pavilions; Many sandy islets overlook the desolate expanse. The old tree's spirit will last a thousand years; The moist washes and the manner [of the trees] are as enduring as metal and rock. Amid the duckweed of misty islands, skiffs moor for the night, And still along the cold river bamboo grows. Of the honorable Guo [Xi]’s [paintings of] level vistas, few remain. How treasured the master-painter's works should be![2]
Tall mountains and flowing rivers fill the world, Aspiring to draw them with water and ink is difficult. My whole life I have followed the lofty message of forests and steams;[3] Constrained by petty official duties, I have been unable to achieve it.
[Signed] Zi’ang (Zhao Mengfu) [Seal]: Zhao shi Zi’ang
山峙川流宇宙間，欲將水墨寫應難。 平生高步林泉意，苦縛微官未可攀。
子昂 [印]：趙氏子昂
3. Yu Ji 虞集 (1272–1348), 3 columns in standard script, undated:
A white stone, rinsed in water, is even cleaner, A green pine, grasping the clouds, appears still taller. So I ask on this painting by master Guo, How is Mr. Shi Donggao?
Inscribed by Yu Ji.
白石漱水彌潔，青松遞雲轉高。 為問郭公畫裏，何如施氏東皋。
虞集題。
4. Ke Jiusi柯九思 (1290–1343), 3 columns in semi-cursive script, undated:
Guo Xi's brush method derives from Yingqiu (Li Cheng, 919-967). But his [depictions of] old trees and empty pavilions grew more profound as he grew older. [Seeing this painting,] I recall once while crossing a bridge over a stream in search of a recluse, The weak slanting rays [of the setting sun] turned the distant mountains autumnal.
Composed by Ke Jiusi.
郭熙筆法出營丘，古木空亭老更幽。 記得溪橋曾訪隱，斜陽澹澹遠山秋。 柯九思賦。
5. Liu Guan柳貫 (1270–1342), 3 columns in standard script, undated; 1 seal:
Guo Xi was good at painting the mountains in the Luonan region [south of Luoyang, in Henan Province] His achievement is comparable to that of Jing Hao (active ca. 900-30) and Guan Tong (active ca. 907-23). This small pavilion on the turtle-back [hummock] suits me well, Leaning on the railing at the time of parting [I hope] the crane will fly back again.
[Signed] Liu Guan [Seal]: Liu shi Daochuan
郭熙工畫洛南山，品在荊關伯仲間。 鼇背小亭能著我，倚闌時送鶴飛還。
柳貫 [印]：柳氏道傳
6. Yen Yaohuan顏堯煥 (14th c.), 12 columns in semi-cursive script, undated; 3 seals:
Su Shi [1037–1101] once wrote the poem:
In Jade Hall, dawn is shaded even on an idle spring day, within there is Guo Xi's painting of spring mountains.
Now Wen Yanbo, the Duke of Lu, had written a colophon on a painting by Guo Xi, and then Old Su Shi had composed a poem after this colophon. These two gentlemen were brilliant and famous officials of their time, but to be able to see such inscriptions nowadays-it is no longer possible! More than one painting by Guo Xi exists, however: take time to examine this Autumn Trees in a Level Distance [as he called Old Trees, Level Distance]. Its materials are from between the Baoyuan [1038-39] and the Yuanyou [1086-93] eras, now returned to the Route Commander Old Shi Donggao's writing table after three hundred years. Old Dong has obtained that which is rarely obtained; this painting has also encountered that which is rarely encountered; I too am able to see that which is rarely seen. For this reason I write him this poem in remembrance:
The fascination of Guo Xi's painting lies not in its colors, white rocks, withered rafts pillowed by the currents. This level distance contains sentiments in its illusory lands, its inscriptions enhance our distance from the past. On a single layer of white silk, clouds astir and flowing, for three hundred years and more, the stars have made several revolutions. Holding [the scroll] with Donggao, we often spread it out in appreciation, together with our lutes and books, we happily roam.[4]
[Signed] Yan Yaohuan [Seals]: Yan Yaohuan zhang, Mingke, Jingxue
I respect and adore Guo Xi's paintings; Their marvels rival that of Creation. His cloudy mountains appear pale and subtle, His waters and objects are both still. From the pavilion atop the sea-turtle's peak, A myriad realms are gleaned from a single glance. Opening the scroll, my pleasure never wanes; Making this poem enhances my perfect tranquility.
On the fifteenth of the tenth lunar month of the gengyin year of the Zhizheng reign era (Nov. 14, 1350), Dingweng, Zuming from Jingshan [near Hangzhou] [inscribed]. [Seals]: Miaoxi wushi, Siming yingguding Zuming baocang
8. Wang Shizhen王世貞 (1526–1590), 11 columns in semi-cursive script, undated; 2 seals:
At right is Guo Xi's handscroll painting Old Trees, Level Distance. Xi was a native of Wen [district] in Heyang [Henan Province]. His fellow clansman [Guo] Ruoxu [active ca. 1070s) described him as "ingenious and manifold in display as he is profound in composition. Although he has repeatedly studied and followed Yingqiu (Li Cheng, 919-967), he is also capable of expressing [what lies within] his own breast. His huge screens and high walls are a multitude in which each is more virile [than its predecessor]."[5] The Xuanhe Emperor [i.e. Huizong, r. 1101-25], however, praised only Li Cheng and said of [Guo] Xi, Fan Kuan (active ca. 990-1030) and Wang Shen (ca. 1046-after 1100) that although they each established a reputation, they each only attained one aspect [of Li Cheng]. Among the paintings attributed to [Guo] Xi handed down in the world today, most are called "level vista." This is different from what [Guo] Ruoxu recorded. I once acquired a scroll by Dai Wenjin (Dai Jin, 1388-1462) done in the manner of [Guo] Xi. I especially loved it and often placed it on my desk for the pleasure of making daydream excursions. Now, viewing this painting, I finally realize that [Dai] Wenjin still had traces of craftsmanship. The lonely pavilion and dying trees, the boundless flat expanse, the distant boat and little bridge, each at times sheds its luster, now deep, now shallow, sometimes dark, sometimes bright. It makes me want to place myself inside [the painting]. [Dai] Wenjin is three stages [behind Guo Xi]. At the end of the scroll are [inscriptions by] Zhao Songxue (Zhao Mengfu), Yu Daoyuan (Yu Ji), Feng Haisu (Feng Zizhen), Ke Danqiu (Ke Jiusi) and that generation. All are famous scholars of the preceding dynasty. Regrettably, their words do not fit perfectly with the painting. Wang Shizhen from the Wu Prefecture inscribed. [Seals]: Wang Yuanmei yin, Tiantao Jushi
9. Chen Yan 陳演 (died 1644), 1 column in clerical script, undated; 1 seal:
Chen Yan from Yingchuan [in Henan Province] with Huang Renfu and Yao Dayou respectfully viewed this at Qingxi by the Great [Yangzi] River. [Seal]: Daoyi shi
Guo Heyang's (Guo Xi) Old Trees, Level Distance, a supreme rarity, respectfully cherished in the Dafeng Tang Studio. On the sixteenth of the seventh lunar month of the yiwei year (Sept. 2, 1955) I inscribed this while drying paintings in sunny weather. [Signed] A Man from Shu [Sichuan Province], Zhang Yuan, Daqian. [Seals]: Zhang Yuan changshou, Daqian fuchang daji
Zhang Daqian 張大千(1899–1983) Zhang Yuan siyin 張爰私印 Dafeng Tang yin 大風堂印 Cang zhi Daqian 藏之大千 Qiu tu bao gurou qing 球圖寶骨肉情 Bufu guren gao houren 不復古人告後人 Zhang Yuan 張爰 Daqian Jushi 大千居士 Bieshi rongyi 別時容易 Diguo zhi fu 敵國之富 Shuke 蜀客 Dafeng Tang gongyang 大風堂供養 Nan bei dong xi zhi ren 南北東西之人 Jichou yihou suode 己丑以後所得 Nan bei dong xi zhiyou xiangsui wu bieli 南北東西只有相隨無別離
Xu Wenbo 徐雯波 (born 1931) Zhang Xu Wenbo 張徐雯波 Hongpin 鴻嬪 Hongpin Tang ji (twice) 鴻嬪堂記 Xu shi xiaoyin 徐氏小印
Gu Luofu 顧洛阜 (John M. Crawford, Jr., 1913–1988) Hanguang Ge zhu Gu Luofu jiancang Zhongguo gudai shuhua zhi zhang 漢光閣主顧洛阜鑒藏中國古代書畫之章 Gu Luofu 顧洛阜 Hanguang Ge 漢光閣
Unidentified Zhuo zhi ? 棁之囗 Zhenwan 珍玩 Fajiang 法匠 Xianyi tushu zhi yin 賢頤圖書之印 Gu shi ? ge zhencang 顧氏囗閣珍藏
Illegible: 1
[1] Translations from Department records unless noted otherwise.
[2] Translation from Shen Fu, Traces of the Brush: Studies in Chinese Calligraphy, New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1977, no. 19, p. 254. Slightly modified.
[3] The term “linquan” (forests and streams) refers to the title of Guo Xi's treatise on painting, Linquan gaozhi (Lofty spirit among forests and steams).
[4] Translation from Ping Foong, “Guo Xi's Intimate Landscapes and the Case of Old Trees, Level Distance,” Metropolitan Museum Journal 35 (2000), pp. 87-112, at p. 100.
[5] Guo Ruoxu's comments are translated by Alexander C. Soper in Experiences in Painting (Tʻu-hua chien-wên chih): An Eleventh-century History of Chinese Painting, translated and annotated by Soper, Washington, D.C.: American Council of Learned Societies, 1951, p. 60.
Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-chien) Chinese(by 1954); John M. Crawford Jr. American, New York (by 1959–1981; donated to MMA)
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