Distant View of Tiger Hill from the Canal Mooring, from Twelve Views of Tiger Hill, Suzhou

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

Views of Tiger Hill depicts a historic site a few miles northwest of Suzhou. The scenes simulate a visit from arriving by boat at the foot of the mountain to climbing to Cloudy Cliff Monastery. Representations of the artist’s mature style, Shen Zhou included views in subtle colors in the suite of monochrome scenes. A Suzhou native, Shen Zhou was supported by family wealth and rejected an official career in favor of life as a retired scholar. Turning to painting in midlife, he is regarded as the founder of the Wu School of painting, with its center in Suzhou. Here Shen Zhou depicted the view from the canal toward the Pagoda of the Cloudy Cliff Monastery, seen from afar. The history of Tiger Hill can be traced to the State of Wu (about 5th century BCE).