Night Rain in the Mountains of Sichuan

Fu Baoshi Chinese
ca. 1948
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
At the center of this intriguing work is a voyeuristic vision of a beautiful lady sitting pensively in candlelight on a stormy night. We gaze into her boudoir through the web of windblown bamboo leaves and an elegant moon-window that is screened by nearly transparent bamboo blinds and a parted gauze curtain. These multiple visual barriers make her emblematic of an aesthetic ideal that is hard to attain. Her delicacy and solitude stand out in sharp relief against the natural turbulence that surrounds her.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Night Rain in the Mountains of Sichuan
  • Artist: Fu Baoshi (Chinese, 1904–1965)
  • Date: ca. 1948
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 23 13/16 x 20 1/2 in. (60.5 x 52 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Lent by a private collection, New York
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art