Ten Thousand Mountains in Snow
Xiao Sun was from Huaining in Anhui province. He travelled throughout China and eventually settled in Beijing, where he held a succession of teaching posts. He was also an active member of Chen Hengke’s Society for the Study of Chinese Painting in the 1920s.
Here the artist inscribes: 'I once saw a painting of snow by Gengyan sanren [aka Wang Hui (1632-1717)] in the style of Youcheng [aka Wang Wei (AD 701-761)]; it is neat and tidy, but too rigid. It is not as good as the works of Shi Tao [c.1642-1707], which are rough and untidy, but appear more interesting. That is [a level that] I cannot reach; this painting only achieves a similar appearance’. He adds: ‘I have made four paintings with titles starting with the numbers “ten”, “hundred”, “thousand” and “ten thousand”, and I believe they deserve to be treasured’.
Details
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Title
Ten Thousand Mountains in Snow
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Artist/maker
Xiao Sun (1883 - 1944) -
Associated place
China (place of creation)Mount Huang (subject) -
Date
1942 -
Material and technique
ink and slight colour on paper
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Material index
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Technique index
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Object type
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Dimensions
mount 234.5 x 59.8 cm approx. (height x width)
painting 106.3 x 49 cm (height x width)
along roller 69.3 cm (length)
rolled 6.5 cm (diameter) -
No. of items
1
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Credit line
Purchased, 1962.
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Museum location
Museum department
Eastern Art
Accession no.
EA1962.230
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Catalogue text
Xiao Sun was from Huaining in Anhui province, where he first learnt to paint with Jiang Yun (1847-1919). He travelled throughout China and eventually settled in Peking, where he held a succession of teaching posts, and was an active member of Chen Hengke's Society for the Study of Chinese Painting in the 1920s. He was one of the major early twentieth century promoters of the early Qing individualist painter Dao Ji, who was also from Anhui.
In: Vainker, Shelagh, Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2000)
Further reading
Vainker, Shelagh, Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2000), no. 145 on p. 170, illus. p. 171 fig. 145
Reference URL
