‘LANDSCAPE WITH THATCHED PAVILION’, BY XIE SHICHEN OF WU (c. 1488-1567) OR CLOSE FOLLOWER

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‘LANDSCAPE WITH THATCHED PAVILION’, BY XIE SHICHEN OF WU (c. 1488-1567) OR CLOSE FOLLOWER China 16th-17th century. Ink and watercolors on silk, mounted in a silk brocade frame. Finely painted with a thatched cottage beneath verdant trees, nestled in a rocky landscape beside a river, and hazy mountains in the distance. Inscriptions: To the lower left, ‘Xie Shichen of Wu Country’ with seal mark ‘Xie Shichen yin’. -Parke-Bernet, New York, 4 November 1966, lot 19 (part-lot, dated Ming dynasty) -Herman A. Metzger, New York, acquired from the above and thence by descent to his wife. -The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States, gifted from the above (accession number 80.079.009) and subsequently deaccessioned. The reverse with an old label inscribed with an inventory number ‘K549/2’. The plastic cover with an old inventory label from the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, describing the present lot as a ‘Landscape with Thatched Pavilion’ by ‘Hsieh Shih-Chen [Xie Shichen]’ and dating it to the Ming dynasty. Copies of the donation record from the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art and the curatorial records from the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art for the present lot, accession number 80.079.009, confirming the provenance and dating above, accompany the lot. The Kevorkian Foundation was founded in 1951 in New York by Hagop Kevorkian (ca.1872–1962), one of the early connoisseurs and collectors of Near Eastern and Islamic art. Kevorkian, an Armenian-born archaeologist, dealer, and scholar, assembled a substantial collection of Persian, Islamic, and Near Eastern objects over several decades and frequently exhibited and donated works to major institutions. His foundation became a major supporter of Middle Eastern studies, establishing endowed positions such as the Kevorkian Chair of Iranian Studies at Columbia University and the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at New York University, as well as funding fellowships, publications, acquisitions, and exhibitions at museums including The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Hagop was particularly drawn to painting, and worked for clients such as J. P. Morgan, Cora Timken Burnett. Parke-Bernet Galleries was a New York based auction house, founded in 1937 by a group of employees of the American Art Association, including Otto Bernet and Hiram H. Parke. It became one of the largest auction houses in the 60s, and was acquired by Sotheby’s in 1964. The company had several high profile auctions with customers such as the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, or Paul Mellon. Herman A. Metzger (d. 1974) graduated from Cornell University in 1921 as a mechanical engineer and worked for International Petroleum Company. He was later named the vice president and director of Creole Petroleum Corporation. The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art was opened in 1973, designed by I. M. Pei & Partners, and named for Herbert F. Johnson, a distinguished Cornell alumnus (Class of 1922), former president and chairman of S. C. Johnson, and long-serving trustee of the University. The Museum’s permanent collection comprises over 40,000 works, spanning six millennia and encompassing artistic traditions from most world cultures. Among others, it specializes in Asian art, prints, drawings, and photographs from the 15th century to the present. Dimensions: Image size 88.6 x 48.5 cm, Size incl. mounting 150.2 x 65.7 cm Xie Shichen (ca. 1488-1567), sobriquet Chuxian, was a Ming dynasty Chinese landscape painter and calligrapher. Born in Wu country (nowadays Suzhou, Jiangsu province), he failed the imperial examination and became a painter. He was skilled in poetry, painting, and calligraphy, especially in clerical script. Xie combined the strengths of the Wu School and the Zhejiang School, absorbing the vigorous brushwork of Wu Zhen, Shen Zhou, and Dai Jin and Wu Wei of the Zhejiang School, forming a unique personal style. His works are magnificent yet elegant, especially known for depicting water scenes and creating long scrolls and large-scale paintings, with bold brushstrokes and light colors. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related landscape painting by Xie Shichen, dated Ming dynasty, 184.2 x 110 cm, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, reference number 新00202377. Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: China Guardian, Beijing, 21 November 2010, lot 1023 Price: RMB 3,472,000 or approx. EUR 599,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the related subject and manner of painting. Note the size (146 × 72 cm). Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 November 2006, lot 617 Price: HKD 216,000 or approx. EUR 40,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the related subject and manner of painting. Note the size (164.5 x 84.2 cm).

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