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Woodcutter and Hermit, from the album Figures in Settings

Artist/Maker (Chinese, 1577–1668)
Date1649
MediumAlbum leaf, ink and color on silk
DimensionsImage: 25 × 8 in. (63.5 × 20.3 cm)
Mount: 14 5/8 × 9 9/16 in. (37.1 × 24.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of Carol S. Brooks in honor of her father, George J. Schlenker, and R. T. Miller Jr. Fund
PortfolioFigures in Settings
Object number1997.29.14D
Status
Not on view
More Information
Title inscription: 樵隱
Two humbly dressed figures make their way down a narrow path, carrying bundles of twigs for firewood. The artist skillfully suggests the setting with a few simple strokes that reveal a cliff on one side and a small stream on the other. The figures themselves are more naturalistically rendered, with straw sandals and tattered clothes, hunched over with the weight of their loads.

This painting probably illustrates a line in a poem by the Southern Song dynasty poet Xiè Língyùn 謝靈運 (385–433), a nobleman who wrote many evocative poems about nature and his experiences on his vast family estate. A line in the poem reads “The woodcutter and hermit accompany one another in the mountains.” *
*〈田南樹園激流植楥〉:「樵隱俱在山」
Exhibition History
A Century of Asian Art at Oberlin: Chinese Paintings
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (June 6, 2017 - December 10, 2017 )
Collections
  • Asian