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Washing the Feet (from the Dusty World)
About the Artwork
A scholar on a boat in the middle ground bathes his feet in the cooling stream. The vast river scene is depicted from a high viewing point. The motif of a scholar washing his feet illustrates the phrase, “When the waters of the Canglang are clear, I wash my capstrings. When the waters of the Canglang are muddy, I wash my feet [only]” (from Songs of Chu, written before 256 BC). The passage evokes the image of the virtuous scholar-official who avoids government service when the ruler is corrupt (the rivers are muddy) and resumes service (washing my capstrings) when the waters are clear. Whether the artist here alludes to unfavorable times of government is not clear.
Inscriptions
Artist's inscription, signature, and 4 seals: Shaking one's clothes on a thousand-jen peak,/ Washing one's feet in a ten-thousand-li stream. In the gengwu year of the Longqing era [1570], fifteenth day of the tenth month, Wufeng shanren, Wen Boren recorded a special occasion. [2 seals] Wufeng shanren; Wen Boren Te-ch'eng chang. [2 seals, lower right corner] Te-ch'eng; She-shan chang. trans. HR; 2 additional seals of Zhang Heng 張珩 (1915-1963)
Provenance
(Frank Caro [1904–1980], New York, NY, sold to Mrs. A. Dean Perry) ?–1997: Mrs. A. Dean [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
Greeting the Spring (Chinese art rotation, galleries 240a, 239, 241c). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 11-August 13, 2017).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Wen Boren (Chinese, 1502–1575)
- Date
- 1570
- Medium
- Hanging scroll mounted on a panel; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 170.2 x 79.4 cm (67 x 31 1/4 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Chinese Art
- Credit line
- Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
- Accession no.
- 1997.103
More by Wen Boren 文伯仁 in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00010035
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