Streams and Mountains

Also known as: Streams and Mountains 溪山圖

About the Artwork

Like many literati of the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, Xu Ben was entangled with the perils of dynastic change as well as the ups and downs of his official career. It was mainly through the art of painting and poetry, as well as the ideal of reclusion, that he sought feelings of exhilaration and shared them with his friends. Xu created this monumental landscape during one of his periods of reclusion. His innumerable “hemp-fiber” texture strokes create a unifying rhythm among the towering mountains with tightly knit masses of rocks. Nestled among shady trees at the base of the mountain is a rustic retreat, which a scholar approaches on foot to visit with the hermit. Among the five inscriptions at the top of the painting is one by the artist himself. He dedicated the painting to someone named Jifu 吉夫 and recorded a poem in praise of mountains. Green trees, yellow orioles, everywhere are mountains; Aimlessly I return from the stream, where I watched the clouds. Man's life does not allow unbroken ease, But to be able to be high up in the mountain, this is leisure.

Inscriptions

綠樹黃鸝處處山，偶從谿上看雲還。人生未許全無事，纔得登臨便是閑。壬子七月十日徐賁為吉夫先生畫並詩共上 [印] 幼文; Label on mounting probably by Liang Qingbiao 梁清標 (1620–1691).; 4 additional inscriptions and 9 additional seals: 1 poem of Xie Hui 謝徽 (c. 2nd half 14th c.); 1 poem and 1 seal of Gao Qi 高啟 (1336–1374); 1 poem and 1 seal of Lu Zhen 盧貞 (c. late 14th c.); 1 poem of Huang Zai 黃載; 3 seals of Liang Qingbiao 梁清標 (1620–1691); 1 seal of Wang Jiqian [C. C. Wang] 王季遷 (1907–2003); 3 seals unidentified.

Provenance

Jifu 吉夫 [14th century] Liang Qingbiao 梁清標 [1620–1691] C. C. Wang 王季遷 [1907–2003], New York, NY ? at least 1954–before 1962: (Walter Hochstadter [1914–2007], New York, NY, sold to Mr. and Mrs. A. Dean Perry) by 1962–1997: Mr. A. Dean Perry [1909–1987] and Mrs. Helen Wade Greene Perry [1911–1996], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1997–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

1000 Jahre Chinesische Malerei. Haus der Kunst, Munich, Mùnich, Germany (organizer) (October 16-December 13, 1959). Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 2-November 24, 1968). Masterpieces of Early Chinese Painting and Calligraphy in American Collections. Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China (organizer) (November 1, 2012-January 3, 2013).

Quick Overview

Artist: Xu Ben (Chinese, 1335–1380)
Date: 1372
Medium: hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions: Image: 92.2 x 37.6 cm (36 5/16 x 14 13/16 in.); Overall: 228 x 54.5 cm (89 3/4 x 21 7/16 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Chinese Art
Credit line: Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
Accession no.: 1997.96

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.