China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) / c. 1302–3
River Village: Fisherman's Joy
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs River Village: Fisherman's Joy as painting (China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) · c. 1302–3).
Various human elements can be found in the painting: two fishermen, an individual with a donkey, and someone in the house.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this painting as Fan painting mounted as album leaf; ink and color on silk and credits Zhao Mengfu (Chinese, 1254–1322).
The museum's collection notes: The artist of this blue-green–style landscape, Zhao Mengfu, was a southerner, versed in all fields of literati pursuits, such as calligraphy and connoisseurship. A princeling of the defeated Southern Song dynasty, he was nevertheless successfully recruited by Khubilai Khan to the Mongol court in the new capital, Dadu (modern Beijing), in 1286. This painting combines a distinctively southern flat watery landscape combined with features of the northern landscape tradition, notably the spiky trees, branches, and rough-surfaced rocks.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtRiver Village: Fisherman's JoyOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.