Life and career
Ma Yuan belonged to a family of painters serving the Southern Song court in Hangzhou. His work is associated with condensed compositions, carefully placed figures and evocative open space. Exact birth and death dates are uncertain; “active late twelfth–early thirteenth century” is more responsible than treating old catalogue numbers as a secure lifespan.
Works across a career
Selected examples, not a complete catalogue. Read date ranges and attributions before inferring a career sequence.
- 01
late 1100s–early 1200s
late 1100s–early 1200s
Drinking in the Moonlight
- Material / technique
- Album leaf; ink on silk
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Collection / source
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
Broad or uncertain date: not a secure career stage.
Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry · Image: public domain (CC0)Museum catalogue note
Once the moon rises and the wine is finished, perhaps the reclined tipsy gentleman will return to the stone table, where ink, paper, and brush can be seen. For moon enthusiasts in Hangzhou, there was a site named Yue Yan, or Moon Cliff, behind the imperial precincts on Mount Fenghuang. With its geographical features of receding craggy rocks leading to the framed full moon, there is good reason to believe that the scene depicts this specific site. The association of this painting with Ma Yuan is stylistically based. However, the brushwork accords more with the aesthetic approach of his son, Ma Lin.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 - 02
1127–1279
1127–1279
Watching the Deer by a Pine Shaded Stream
- Material / technique
- Album leaf; ink and light color on silk
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Collection / source
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
Broad or uncertain date: not a secure career stage.
Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry · Image: public domain (CC0) - 03
1127–1279
1127–1279
Bamboo and Ducks by a Rushing Stream
- Material / technique
- hanging scroll; ink and light color on silk
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Collection / source
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
Broad or uncertain date: not a secure career stage.
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund · Image: public domain (CC0)
Compare materials, style and colour
Compare the album leaves’ intimate viewing with the larger hanging scroll. Ink and light colour on silk can describe pine branches, ducks or moonlight while leaving much of the setting unstated. The broad and overlapping dates do not establish a developmental sequence: compare format, density and brushwork rather than inventing three career phases.
Material
What can this material do? Distinguish a design, an original object and a later impression or cast.
Style
Compare viewpoint, edges, composition and marks. Which choices persist, and which change?
Colour
Compare palette, contrast and light. Consider the support, printing, surface treatment and ageing.
Sources and further reading
Original educational interpretation; catalogue descriptions are separately credited. Each study links to its source. Reference entries without images are not added to the comparison timeline.