This is a Asian hanging scroll (known as a kakejiku in Japanese or simply a hanging scroll in Chinese) featuring an ink landscape painting. I am unsure of the origin but I am leaning toward post WWII China based or research.
- Art Form: The artwork appears to be a traditional East Asian ink and color painting on paper or silk, characteristic of the scroll painting art form popular in China and Japan.
- Subject Matter: The painting depicts a classic mountain and water scene, a common theme in Chinese landscape art known as sansuiga in Japanese. The scene includes:
- Misty mountains in the background.
- A prominent rocky cliff and trees, possibly willows or cherry blossoms, in the foreground.
- A small boat with a figure is visible on the water near the middle left of the scroll.
- Mounting: The central artwork is mounted on a larger piece of paper or silk backing, with decorative borders, designed to be hung for display. It has text inscriptions and red artist's seals (signatures) in the upper left corner.
- Purpose: These types of scrolls are often rotated seasonally in traditional homes and are appreciated for their artistic and calligraphic value.
Upper Seal (杏庄印起)
This seal contains four characters, read vertically from top to bottom, right to left:
- 杏庄 (Xìng Zhuāng): This is likely a personal name or the name of an art studio/residence ("Apricot Villa" or "Apricot Manor").
- 印起 (Yìn Qǐ): The character 印 means "seal" or "stamp", and 起 means "to rise" or "to start". In the context of a seal, "印起" likely relates to the act of stamping the artwork, but its precise artistic meaning is less common in general sources.
Translation of the poem:
The text reads 只緣身在此山中 (zhī yuán shēn zài cǐ shān zhōng), which translates to:
"Only because one is within this mountain".
This is the second half of a famous couplet from Su Shi's poem titled Ti Xi Lin Bi (題西林壁, "Written on the Wall of West Forest Temple"). The full couplet and a common translation are:
- Looked at horizontally, it’s a range; looked at vertically, a peak; from far, near, high, or low, it’s different.
- We cannot know the true face of Mount Lu, only because we are within this mountain.
The poem uses the experience of viewing Mount Lu to explore a philosophical theme: one cannot fully comprehend a situation or an object when immersed within it, emphasizing the importance of perspective.
Artist:
The seals and inscription suggest the painting was made in a renwu year (which could be 1942, etc., in the 60-year cycle) by an artist with a name that might be Liu Hong (劉洪).
Much of this is taken from Ai translations. It can be incorrect but I tried to offer research to this piece. I bought this and other pieces as an estate auction. All appear to be from the same era but I cannot promise my research is accurate.