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Scholar Watching the Waterfall
Luo Ping (Chinese, 1733–1799)
1764
- Medium
- Hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Painting: 125.7 x 56.8 cm (49 1/2 x 22 3/8 in.); Overall: 230.5 x 72.1 cm (90 3/4 x 28 3/8 in.)
- Culture
- China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Chinese Art
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
In this hanging scroll, a scholar and his attendant contemplate a waterfall. A light breeze lifts the scholar’s robe and blows the tree leaves, suggesting movement. Luo Ping from Anhui province was orphaned after his family had moved to Yangzhou, but his talent was recognized by the salt merchant brothers Ma Yueguan (1688–1755) and Ma Yuelu (1697–after 1766), who introduced him to literati circles. His patrons' portraits are in CMA 1979.72.
Inspired by painter Jin Nong in his early career, Luo became known for his creative figure paintings, including ghosts. Scholar Watching a Waterfall was painted in his Yangzhou studio in the year of Jin’s death.
