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Layered Peaks and Splashing Waterfall: Portrait of Hua Yan as a Young Man
Hua Yan (Chinese, 1682–c. 1765)
and Wei Shijie (Chinese, 1667–after 1747)
1705
- Medium
- Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Painting: 130 x 47.2 cm (51 3/16 x 18 9/16 in.); Overall: 281 x 95 cm (110 5/8 x 37 3/8 in.)
- Culture
- China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Chinese Art
- Credit line
- Gift of various donors by exchange
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This portrait was jointly executed by Wei Shijie and Hua Yan himself who painted the landscape in the background. Hua Yan is shown here at the age of about 23. The sword at his back is a reference to his early desire for a military career, while the scholar’s robe suggests an opposing aspiration. Together these are signs of a complex personality.
The painting also reveals Hua Yan’s early talent in painting. While Wei Shijie is little known, Hua Yan would later become a well-known painter. In addition to Wei Shijie and Hua Yan, nine of Hua Yan’s contemporary friends left inscriptions on the painting.
