Who painted 元夏永黃樓圖冊頁|The Yellow Pavilion?

元夏永黃樓圖冊頁|The Yellow Pavilion was painted by Xia Yong in ca. 1350.

Where can I see 元夏永黃樓圖冊頁|The Yellow Pavilion?

元夏永黃樓圖冊頁|The Yellow Pavilion is held by Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What movement is 元夏永黃樓圖冊頁|The Yellow Pavilion?

元夏永黃樓圖冊頁|The Yellow Pavilion is associated with Song dynasty painting.

元夏永黃樓圖冊頁|The Yellow Pavilion by Xia Yong (ca. 1350)

About this work

Subject & Meaning

The pavilion, described as yellow in the title, serves as the primary subject, embodying the built‑environment within a natural setting.

The Yellow Pavilion is a landscape painting that centers on a small pavilion, the architectural focal point of the composition. Executed in ink on silk as an album leaf in 1350, the work belongs to the landscape genre and was created in China before entering the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The pavilion, described as yellow in the title, serves as the primary subject, embodying the built‑environment within a natural setting.

Its depiction reflects the tradition of integrating modest structures into scholarly landscapes, though the sources do not elaborate further on symbolic interpretation.

Technique & Style

Executed in 1350, the album leaf employs ink on silk, a combination typical of Yuan literati painting, favoring translucent washes over opaque pigments. Handling emphasizes fluid, modulated ink tones to model the pavilion and surrounding garden architecture, with fine brush lines defining structural edges and foliage. The composition balances recession through layered spatial planes, a hallmark of Southern Song and early Yuan landscape conventions.

The silk support, measuring 20.6 cm × 26.7 cm, shows a restrained palette dominated by ink gradations, with minimal color beyond subtle ink washes, reinforcing the scholarly restraint associated with Xia Yong’s manner.

History & Provenance

The Yellow Pavilion (元夏永黃樓圖冊頁) is an album‑leaf painting in ink on silk attributed to Xia Yong, dated to 1350. It portrays a pavilion and belongs to the landscape genre. The work was created in China and entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is catalogued in the museum’s holdings.

No further documentation of earlier owners or sales is recorded in the available sources, and there is no evidence of a specific commission. The painting’s dimensions measure 20.6 cm by 26.7 cm.

The album leaf titled The Yellow Pavilion by the Yuan dynasty artist Xia Yong is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Created in 1350, this ink-on-silk work measures 20.6 cm in height and 26.7 cm in width. While the source confirms the painting's presence in the museum's holdings, no specific inventory or accession number is provided in the available records. Furthermore, the provided sources do not contain information regarding a specific exhibition history for this work.

Context

Xia Yong's 'The Yellow Pavilion' is a mid‑14th‑century album leaf painted in ink on silk, depicting a pavilion within a landscape genre. Dated to 1350, the work belongs to the corpus of Chinese paintings and reflects the artist's focus on architectural subjects within the broader tradition of Yuan‑period landscape painting. The piece is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is catalogued as part of the museum's collection of Chinese art and studied in scholarship examining Xia Yong's contribution to the development of pavilion imagery as symbols of scholarly retreat.

Its dimensions (20.6 × 26.7 cm) and provenance from China underscore its historical context within early Yuan artistic production.

Overview

Xia Yong, an artist active in the mid‑fourteenth century in Qian Tang (modern Hangzhou), produced the silk album leaf known as The Yellow Pavilion around 1350. Executed in ink on silk, the work belongs to the late Yuan period and follows the aesthetic lineage of Song‑court painting, emphasizing subtle composition over vivid coloration.