明/清 佚名 海天旭日圖 卷|Sea and Sky at Sunrise

Unidentified artist

17th century · Handscroll; ink and color on silk · Asian Art

This fanciful painting bears a suite of false inscriptions and seals, including a fake signature of the twelfth-century court painter Zhao Boju. Zhao was famous for his blue-green landscapes, and many paintings bearing his name were produced in later centuries, some intended to fool collectors and others as charming reproductions. This painting, likely made in the seventeenth century, belongs to the latter category. The intense palette of azurite blue and malachite green, and the scalloped clouds that cling to the mountains, signals a magical, mysterious place that is difficult to access and inhabited by supernatural beings.

Artist

Unidentified artist

Date

17th century

Medium

Handscroll; ink and color on silk

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929