2013.163: Clearing after Snow

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2013.163

People

Wan Qingli 萬青力, Chinese (Beijing 1945 - 2017)

Title

Clearing after Snow

Classification

Paintings

Work Type

painting, hanging scroll

Date

1983

Places

Creation Place: North America, United States, New York

Culture

Chinese

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/319287

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, with artist’s inscription, dedication, signature, and seals

Dimensions

painting proper: 68 x 49.4 cm (26 3/4 x 19 7/16 in.)
full mounting: 192.2 x 71.5 cm (75 11/16 x 28 1/8 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• Signed: Upper right, black ink: Your student, Wan Qingli, in New York (Chinese brush-written characters followed by a red seal reading "Wan")
• inscription: brush-written in upper right of painting, translates as follows: "Clearing after Snow. The aim of my life is to find enjoyment in mountains and trees. I feel embarrassed to promote my painting reputation to people. I hid my scrolls, burned incense, and laid down a fresh piece of paper. The bright moon illuminated the drizzly night. I painted this in the summer of the guihai year [1983], as I was lonely after my arrival in a foreign country. Sending this to my teacher, Professor Chu-tsing, for his comment, and to his wife, Yaowen, for her amusement. Your student, Wan Qingli, in New York."
• seal: three artist's seals: 1) Square red relief seal, following signature: "Wan"
  2) Square red intaglio pictorial seal, following first seal: "Shan"
  3) Square red relief informal seal, lower left corner: "Qingli you Mei suozuo"

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Wan Qingli, New York (1983), gift; to Chu-tsing Li, Lawrence, Kansas (1983-2012), gift; to his son B U.K. Li, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, (2012-2013), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2013.

Footnotes:
1. Dr. Chu-tsing Li (1920-2014)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Chu-tsing Li Collection, Gift of B U.K. Li in honor of Chu-tsing Li and in memory of Yao-wen Kwang Li and Teri Ho Li

Copyright

© Estate of Wan Qingli

Accession Year

2013

Object Number

2013.163

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

Austerity and quietude pervade this landscape of angular forms with delicate lines for the barren trees and gentle shading on the massive, moonlit, snow-covered rocks and hills. Through rhythmic brushwork, the artist has created a structure of horizontals and verticals, layered to evoke a feeling of gentle movement.
Wan Qingli’s work reflects his diverse background and training. Growing up in Beijing, he learned classical poetry and painting from Li Keran (1907–1989) and from Lu Yanshao (1909–1993). Yet his self-expressive means reveal a propensity for synthesizing old and new. This landscape is markedly different from classical snowscapes. A feeling of starkness and modernity pervades the otherwise timeless mountain scene. Reflections in the icy water create an impression of moonlight, and the low vantage point suggests the artist’s experimentation with picture space.
The artist’s inscription alludes to painting on a moonlit, drizzly night and to his loneliness, since the work was painted while he was living in America. He dedicated the painting to his new teacher in America, Chu-tsing Li, and to his wife, Yao-wen Li.

Publication History

• Robert D. Mowry and Claudia Brown, A Tradition Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Paintings from the Chu-tsing Li Collection, 1950-2000, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums/Yale University Press (Cambridge, Mass., 2007), cat. 51

Exhibition History

• A Tradition Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Paintings from the Chu-tsing Li Collection, 1950-2000, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 11/03/2007 - 01/27/2008; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, 06/28/2008 - 09/14/2008; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, 10/11/2008 - 01/04/2009; Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, 02/11/2009 - 05/24/2009

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