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Lot Essay
Mist and Clouds: An Examination and Interpretation of Mi Youren’s Cloudy Mountains
This hanging scroll, painted in ink and colour on two conjoining silk panels, unfolds from near to far in layered mists and soft atmospheric washes. The cottages and bridge at the foot of the mountains are executed with succinct, connected brushstrokes that typify the “mist and cloud” idiom of the Mi family masters. Well placed reserves of empty space allow the landscape’s breath and movement to flow throughout. Although Mi style landscapes on silk are relatively uncommon, comparable examples exist in museum collections, such as the Tower of the Rising Clouds in the Freer Gallery of Art, traditionally attributed to Mi Fu.
The painting’s provenance is particularly noteworthy. According to inscriptions by Zhang Daqian (1899–1983) and Chen Rentao (1906–1968), the work once belonged to the Southern Song Imperial Collection, the Goryeo royal household, the Ming imperial court, and the Qing Prince Yi’s residence; several seals on the painting matched such opinion. Rare among these is evidence connected to the Goryeo court collection. There is an inscription, which reads, “Cloudy Mountains by Mi Yuanhui. In the year xinwei bestowed upon Lee Jang-yong”. It was identified by Chen Rentao as the hand of King Wonjong (1219–1274). Wonjong ascended the throne in 1260, was briefly deposed in a rebellion in 1269, and restored the following year with Mongol support. The cyclical year xinwei corresponds to 1271, the twelfth year of his reign. The recipient, Lee Jang-yong, served as Jungsŏ sirang (Vice Minister of the Secretariat), Pyeongjangsa (Chief Councillor), and Taeja taebu (Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince). According to the Goryeosa, he was dismissed that same year for involvement in political upheaval surrounding the king’s deposition and died the following year.
Above the inscription appears the seal Gyujangjibo (奎章之寶). This seal is typically associated with the Kyujanggak Royal Library established by King Jeongjo in 1776 and was used primarily for royal printed texts. It is therefore not contemporaneous with the Goryeo inscription, highlighting the layered and still complex history of Korean royal collections of Chinese painting—an area requiring further scholarly study.
In the twentieth century, the painting was admired by major connoisseurs including Zhang Daqian, Li Yanshan (1898–1961), and Chen Rentao. Chen included it in both Annotated Commentary on the Paintings from King Kwei Collection and Chinese Paintings from King Kwei Collection. A diary entry by Chen Junbao (1898-1982) from September 1952 records a visit with Xu Bojiao (1913-2002) to examine Chen Rentao’s coin collections for government acquisition; among the works viewed was an exceptional landscape attributed to Mi Youren, almost certainly this painting.
Never before seen on the market, the work’s return to Hong Kong carries particular scholarly and collecting significance.
This hanging scroll, painted in ink and colour on two conjoining silk panels, unfolds from near to far in layered mists and soft atmospheric washes. The cottages and bridge at the foot of the mountains are executed with succinct, connected brushstrokes that typify the “mist and cloud” idiom of the Mi family masters. Well placed reserves of empty space allow the landscape’s breath and movement to flow throughout. Although Mi style landscapes on silk are relatively uncommon, comparable examples exist in museum collections, such as the Tower of the Rising Clouds in the Freer Gallery of Art, traditionally attributed to Mi Fu.
The painting’s provenance is particularly noteworthy. According to inscriptions by Zhang Daqian (1899–1983) and Chen Rentao (1906–1968), the work once belonged to the Southern Song Imperial Collection, the Goryeo royal household, the Ming imperial court, and the Qing Prince Yi’s residence; several seals on the painting matched such opinion. Rare among these is evidence connected to the Goryeo court collection. There is an inscription, which reads, “Cloudy Mountains by Mi Yuanhui. In the year xinwei bestowed upon Lee Jang-yong”. It was identified by Chen Rentao as the hand of King Wonjong (1219–1274). Wonjong ascended the throne in 1260, was briefly deposed in a rebellion in 1269, and restored the following year with Mongol support. The cyclical year xinwei corresponds to 1271, the twelfth year of his reign. The recipient, Lee Jang-yong, served as Jungsŏ sirang (Vice Minister of the Secretariat), Pyeongjangsa (Chief Councillor), and Taeja taebu (Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince). According to the Goryeosa, he was dismissed that same year for involvement in political upheaval surrounding the king’s deposition and died the following year.
Above the inscription appears the seal Gyujangjibo (奎章之寶). This seal is typically associated with the Kyujanggak Royal Library established by King Jeongjo in 1776 and was used primarily for royal printed texts. It is therefore not contemporaneous with the Goryeo inscription, highlighting the layered and still complex history of Korean royal collections of Chinese painting—an area requiring further scholarly study.
In the twentieth century, the painting was admired by major connoisseurs including Zhang Daqian, Li Yanshan (1898–1961), and Chen Rentao. Chen included it in both Annotated Commentary on the Paintings from King Kwei Collection and Chinese Paintings from King Kwei Collection. A diary entry by Chen Junbao (1898-1982) from September 1952 records a visit with Xu Bojiao (1913-2002) to examine Chen Rentao’s coin collections for government acquisition; among the works viewed was an exceptional landscape attributed to Mi Youren, almost certainly this painting.
Never before seen on the market, the work’s return to Hong Kong carries particular scholarly and collecting significance.