Plum Blossom and Rock

Chinese, 1610-1663

The fan has long been a common and informal form of Chinese painting. Painted as a gift for someone the monk artist Hongren refers affectionately to as “old Bu,” the plum bough’s graceful contortion echoes the shape of the fan. Hongren's simple yet elegant composition recalls the style of Ni Zan (1301–1374), whose paintings inspired the Anhui school of which Hongren was a main proponent.

Ink on gold-washed paperpaper

6 5/8 x 20 3/16 in. (16.8 x 51.2 cm)

Margaret E. Fuller Purchase Fund

95.41

Provenance: Hui Jun惠均 (1902–1979); Xu Bangda 徐邦達 (1911–2012); Palace Museum, Beijing (temporary loan); Kaikodo

Photo: Susan A. Cole

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryTokyo, Japan, Suntory Museum of Art, Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum, July 25 - Sept. 6, 2009 (Kobe, Japan, Kobe City Museum, Sept. 19 - Dec. 6, 2009; Kofu, Japan, Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, Dec. 23, 2009 - Feb. 28, 2010; Atami, Japan, MOA Museum of Art, Mar. 13 - May 9, 2010; Fukuoka, Japan, Fukuoka Art Museum, May 23 - July 19, 2010).

Published ReferencesKawai, Masatomo, Yasuhiro Nishioka, Yukiko Sirahara, editors, "Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum", 2009, The Yomiuri Shimbun, catalogue number 88

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