The Fool's Spring, from Twelve Views of Tiger Hill, Suzhou
Shen Zhou (Chinese, 1427–1509)
1491–1509
- Medium
- Album leaf; ink on paper or ink and slight color on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 31.7 x 41.1 cm (12 1/2 x 16 3/16 in.); Overall: 36.5 x 49.9 cm (14 3/8 x 19 5/8 in.)
- Genre
- painting
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Styles
Tags
China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
About
Views of Tiger Hill depicts a historic site a few miles northwest of Suzhou. The scenes simulate a visit from arriving by boat at the foot of the mountain to climbing to Cloudy Cliff Monastery. Representations of the artist’s mature style, Shen Zhou included views in subtle colors in the suite of monochrome scenes. A Suzhou native, Shen Zhou was supported by family wealth and rejected an official career in favor of life as a retired scholar. Turning to painting in midlife, he is regarded as the founder of the Wu School of painting, with its center in Suzhou.
