Accession Number
1974/1.93

Title
Waiting for a Ferry by a River in Autumn

Artist(s)
Yao Yunzai (Yao Yün-tsai)

Object Creation Date
1641

Medium & Support
hanging scroll, ink and color on silk

Dimensions
41 3/10 in x 17 15/16 in (104.93 cm x 45.56 cm)

Credit Line
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker Art Collection Fund

Label copy
Yao Yunzai was a visionary early seventeenth-century artist.
Although highly esteemed, he was not prolific. His paintings
were scarce during his lifetime and few survive today. The
imagery in his paintings echoes that found in famous works
of the Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties. This
scroll depicts a tranquil autumn scene of figures waiting
for a ferry on a riverbank, a recurring motif in the Chinese
literati (amateur scholar-artist) tradition. The ferry is
anchored near the bank across the river. While one ferryman
at the stern holds the scull, another extends his hand to help
a passenger, possibly an official, board the vessel.
Composed with delicate lines and neatly arranged ink dots,
the painting is embellished with exquisite colors. In order
to create a dark background, the artist may have tinted the
unpainted areas, such as the sky and water, to a soft brownish
tone. This also softens the vivid contrasts among the
bright pigments.
Fall 2015 Gallery Rotation
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Inscription: Painted in the 10th month of 1641. Yao Yunzai
Two seals of the artist
One collector’s seal
Although highly esteemed during his lifetime, Yao Yunzai was not a prolific painter and few examples of his work survive today. This rare scroll depicts a tranquil autumn scene of figures waiting for a ferry on a riverbank. The elegant blue and green landscape, with its echoes of earlier Tang and Song dynasty imagery, convincingly asserts Yao’s status as a visionary early seventeenth-century artist who, being independent-minded, pursued new sources of inspiration for his paintings.
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Although a highly esteemed painter, Yao Yunzai was not
a prolific artist nor did he frequently publish his work. As a result, his paintings were scarce even during his lifetime and fewer still survive today. This rare scroll depicts a tranquil autumn scene of figures waiting for a ferry on a riverbank. The elegant blue-and-green landscape, with its echoes of earlier Tang and Song dynasty imagery, convincingly asserts Yao’s status as a visionary early seventeenth-century artist.
(6/28/10)
(Chinese Gallery Rotation, Spring 2010)

Subject matter
The imagery in Yao Yunzai's paintings echo the famous works from the Tang and Song dynasties. This scene of figures in autumn waiting for a ferry is a recurring motif in literati paintings. The passenger is possibly an official.

Physical Description
Bright green mountains dominate this tranquil autumn landscape. Figures wait beneath trees alongside a riverbank for a ferry in the lower portion of the scroll.

Primary Object Classification
Painting

Primary Object Type
hanging scroll

Additional Object Classification(s)
Painting

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
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Keywords
autumn
landscapes (environments)
mountains
pine (wood)
rivers