Who painted 明佚名倣王紱秋窗讀書圖軸|Landscape?

明佚名倣王紱秋窗讀書圖軸|Landscape was painted by After Wang Fu in 1639.

Where can I see 明佚名倣王紱秋窗讀書圖軸|Landscape?

明佚名倣王紱秋窗讀書圖軸|Landscape is held by Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What movement is 明佚名倣王紱秋窗讀書圖軸|Landscape?

明佚名倣王紱秋窗讀書圖軸|Landscape is associated with Ming dynasty painting.

Artwork

明佚名倣王紱秋窗讀書圖軸|Landscape

After Wang Fu , 1639

明佚名倣王紱秋窗讀書圖軸|Landscape is an ink painting by the Ming dynasty painting artist After Wang Fu. It dates from 1639 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This hanging scroll, dated 1639, is an anonymous Chinese landscape titled 'Autumn Window Reading' (Qiuchuang Dushu Tu).

About this work

Technique & Style

The work is executed as a hanging scroll using ink on paper, a format typical of Ming‑period Chinese landscape painting.

The work is executed as a hanging scroll using ink on paper, a format typical of Ming‑period Chinese landscape painting. The anonymous artist follows the compositional approach of Wang Fu, rendering a solitary mountain within a spacious composition that emphasizes verticality and atmospheric depth. The scroll’s ink wash technique produces subtle tonal gradations that define rock forms and foliage, while the brushwork conveys a restrained yet expressive handling of line.

As a landscape painting, the piece belongs to the genre of mountain scenery and was produced in China in 1639.

History & Provenance

Created in 1639 in China, this hanging scroll executed in ink on paper is attributed to an anonymous Ming dynasty artist working in the style of Wang Fu. The work, titled 'Reading in an Autumn Window,' depicts a mountainous landscape. While the specific circumstances of its commission and the identity of the original patron remain unrecorded in the available documentation, the piece has entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The dating to 1639 is consistently cited across records, establishing its creation during the late Ming period, though the painter remains unidentified.

The hanging scroll titled Autumn Window Reading, attributed to an anonymous follower of Wang Fu and dated 1639, is part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The museum’s catalogue records the work under its standard accession system, though the specific accession number is not disclosed in the available documentation. No exhibition history for this piece is noted in the sources consulted, indicating that it has not been featured in publicly listed museum exhibitions to date.

Overview

This hanging scroll, dated 1639, is an anonymous Chinese landscape titled 'Autumn Window Reading' (Qiuchuang Dushu Tu). Executed in ink on paper, the work is explicitly inscribed as an imitation of Wang Fu, a prominent early Ming dynasty painter active in the 1400s. The composition depicts a solitary scholar seated beneath a pine tree beside a mountain stream, engaged in reading.

The artist employs a monochromatic palette, relying on varying ink tones to render the textures of rock, foliage, and water without color. The scene conveys a sense of quietude and scholarly retreat, characteristic of literati landscape traditions that prioritize inner contemplation over external spectacle. As a late Ming copy of a lost Yuan or early Ming original, the piece serves as a testament to the enduring reverence for Wang Fu's style and the practice of emulating past masters.

The lack of a signature on the scroll leaves the specific identity of the 1639 copyist unknown, though the deliberate brushwork suggests a skilled hand familiar with the conventions of the genre. This work illustrates the continuity of Chinese painting traditions, where the act of copying was a method of study and homage rather than mere reproduction.

Subject & Meaning

The composition features a solitary scholar engaged in reading, positioned beneath a towering pine tree beside a flowing mountain stream. This tranquil setting, nestled within a vast mountainous landscape, evokes a sense of peace and withdrawal from worldly concerns. The scene reflects the ideal of scholarly reclusion, a common theme in Chinese art that emphasizes intellectual pursuits and harmony with the natural world.