Clouds Visiting a Mountain Retreat
1633
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1633
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Clouds Visiting a Mountain Retreat is a 1633 unspecified by Tao Hong, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This ink painting shows a mountain peak half-hidden in swirling clouds. Soft gray washes fade into white mist around jagged peaks and a lone pine. Tao Hong painted this in 1633, late in the Ming Dynasty. Only five of his works survive today—just one is bigger than this. Look up Tao Hong (Chinese, active c. 1610–1640) to see how his work changed after the dynasty fell.
Little is known about Tao Hong who settled in Nanking in the latter part of his life. His son was a friend of the leading Nanjing school artist Gong Xian (on display nearby). When the Ming dynasty collapsed in 1644, Tao joined the loyalist resistance in Yunnan province. By 1645 the Manchu invaders had defeated the Yunnanese forces, prompting Tao to flee to Burma, where he died shortly thereafter. Only five of Tao Hong’s works are known to exist, of which this painting is the largest.
Read the full account in the museum source.
