China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) / 1300s
Fishermen-Hermits in Stream and Mountain
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Fishermen-Hermits in Stream and Mountain as painting (China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) · 1300s).
The composition of two shores divided by a river was mostly famously associated with the Yuan painter Ni Zan.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this painting as Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk and credits Zhao Yong (Chinese, c. 1289-c. 1362).
The museum's collection notes: In this typical southern two shores divided by a river composition, two fishermen, each seated in the stern of his covered houseboat, troll their hooks in the swirling water, holding short rods fitted with spooling reels. Zhao Yong was a son of the southern calligrapher and statesman Zhao Mengfu, who, like his father was a scholar-official in the Mongol-Yuan government. As public servants of the Yuan state and administration, scholar-artists like the Zhaos delighted in paintings that pictured them in nature as fishermen amid vistas of Jiangnan, which they considered their home.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtFishermen-Hermits in Stream and MountainOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.