Dream Journey among Rivers and Mountains, no. 90

Also known as: Dream Journeys among Rivers and Mountains; Dream Journey among Rivers and Mountains, no. 90 江山臥游圖

About the Artwork

Cliffs and waterfalls interspersed with trees and dotted vegetation are spread over this handscroll. Long paths wind their way through villages, beside cottages, shrines, and over bridges. In the past, Chinese literati officials liked to take a “dream journey” along mountains and rivers when viewing landscape paintings in their studios. Scenery of this kind thus became a way to escape from the world of bureaucracy and administration. The painter Cheng Zhengkui used the title “Dream Journey” for a whole series of paintings, of which this is number 90. He is said to have painted 500 of them, but the actual count remains unknown.

Inscriptions

江山臥遊圖其九十, 青溪道人, 戊戌夏五。 [印] 程正揆; Title and inscription by Huang Yi 黃易 (1744–1802), and 3 seals.; 1 colophon and 9 additional seals: 3 seals of Dai Zhi 戴植 (active about 1821–1850); 1 colophon, dated 1914, and 3 seals of Yan Shiqing 顏世清 (1873–1929); 3 seals of Wang Nanping 王南屏 (1924–1985).

Exhibition history

Year in Review - Nineteen Hundred Sixty. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 30, 1960-January 1, 1961). Recent Acquisitions. Stanford University Museum of Art, Stanford, CA (organizer) (May 21-July 1, 1967). Mountains, Rocks, and Water: Landscape Painting in Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 2-December 13, 1987). Escaping to a Better World: Eccentrics and Immortals in Chinese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 13-November 6, 2022).

Quick Overview

Artist: Cheng Zhengkui (Chinese, 1604–1676)
Date: 1658
Medium: Handscroll; ink and color on paper
Dimensions: Painting section: 24 x 341.5 cm (9 7/16 x 134 7/16 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Chinese Art
Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
Accession no.: 1960.182

Provenance

Huang Yi 黃易 [1744–1802] Dai Zhi 戴植 [active about 1821–1850] Yan Shiqing 顏世清 [1873–1929] Wang Nanping 王南屏 [1924–1985] ?–1960: (Walter Hochstadter [1914–2007], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1960–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

More by Cheng Zhengkui in museum collections

Dream Landscape
Cheng Zhengkui
dated 1674 · Painting
Museum collection · via the Metropolitan Museum of ArtAT-00014008

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