Paintings after Ancient Masters
Chen Hongshou1598–1652
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
The twenty paintings in this double album by Chen Hongshou include landscapes, figures, and flowers. It also has one leaf featuring a woman, an often-used subject not found in the other albums from the latter part of his career. His late works are wonderful summations of Chen's peculiar and quirky art—archaistic, hyper-refined—but without accompanying shallowness or sentimentality.
His figures and landscapes in the late albums are miniaturized, not unlike the small Chinese gardens, or the carefully selected small table rocks or old roots used for contemplation to see the world in miniature. This loss of scale is quite deliberate and reflects the psychological situation of a depressed class like the Ming loyalist officials and scholars, deprived of their integrity and honor, and forced to lead a diminished and restricted existence.
- Title: Paintings after Ancient Masters
- Creator: Chen Hongshou (Chinese, 1598/99–1652)
- Date Created: 1598–1652
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 30.2 x 26.7 cm (11 7/8 x 10 1/2 in.)
- Provenance: Weng Tonghe 翁同龢 [1830-1904], by descent to Wango H. C. Weng, (Wango H. C. Weng 翁萬戈 [1918-2020], Lyme, NH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Painting
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1979.27
- Medium: Double album with twenty-two leaves; ink or ink and color on silk
- Inscriptions: Artist's titles, signatures, and 21 seals: A. Scholars in a Garden. Hung-shou painted for old Chung. [seal] Chang-hou. B. Lao-tzu Riding an Ox. Hung-shou respectfully painted. [seal] Ch'en yin Hung-shou. C. Narcissus and Bare Trees. The Taoist Chung-ch'ing entrusted Lao-lien to paint [this]. [seal] Chang-hou. D. Autumn Landscape. Lao-lien painted this for Lao-ts'ang. [seal] Chang-hou. E. Portrait of T'ao Yuan-ming. Lao-lien [seal] Hung-shou. F. Lotus and Rocks. Hung-shou painted after the style of Ts'ui Po and presented it to the Buddhist disciple Lin Chung-ch'ing. [seal] Chang-hou. G. Taoist and Crane in Autumn Landscape. The old man Fu-ch'ih painted for the Taoist Chung-ch'ing. [seal] Chang-hou. H. Portrait of Chung-ch'ing in a Landscape. Lao-lien painted for Chung-ch'ing. [2 seals] Chang-hou; Ch'en yin Hung-shou. I. Chrysanthemum and Rock. Hung-shou [seal] Hung-shou. J. Landscape in the Style of Ni Tsan. Lao-lien [seal] Chang-hou. L. Mr. Five Willows (Wu-liu), T'ao Yung-ming. Mr. Five Willows Chung-ch'ing entrusted Hung-shou to paint [this]. [seal] Chang-hou. M. A Lohan [after Kuan-hsui]. Buddhist disciple Ch'en Hung-shou respectfully painted. [2 seals] Chun-t'i ti-tzu; Chang-hou. N. A Bird and Peach-Blossom Branch. Hui-lun-shang painted after Tao-chun [Emperor Hui-tsung] and presented it to Ts'ang-fu chu-chih. [seal] Ch'en yin Hung-shou. O. Travellers in an Autumn Landscape. Hung-shou [seal] Chang-hou. P. A Lady. Hung-shou [seal] Hung-shou. Q. Crysanthemum. Hung-shou painted in imitation of the Northern Sung style for Taoist friend, Ts'ang-fu. [seal] Chang-hou. R. Scholar Reading in a Thatched Hut by a Waterfall. Chung-ch'ing entrusted Hung-shou to paint. [seal] Chang-hou. S. Scholar with Staff and Brush. Hung-shou [seal] Chang-hou. T. An Ancient Tree. Hung-shou [seal] Chang-hou. U. Rock, Old Tree, and Bamboo. Hung-shou [seal] Hung-shou., 2 colophons (leaves K and V) and 34 additional seals: 24 seals of Lin Chung-ch'ing (Lin Ts'ang-fu or Lin T'ing-tung, friend of Chen Hongshou, for whom the album was painted); 2 colophons, dated 1893 and 1899, and 5 seals of Weng Tonghe 翁同龢 (1830-1904); 2 seals of Weng Tongjue 翁同爵 (older brother of Weng Tonghe; 1814-1877); 2 seals of Weng Wan-go 翁萬戈 (1918-2020); 1 unidentified.
- Fun Fact: Chen Hongshou made this double album with twenty paintings for a friend, Lin Zhongqing.
- Department: Chinese Art
- Culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
- Credit Line: John L. Severance Fund
- Collection: ASIAN - Album leaf
- Accession Number: 1979.27
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