Pines in Landscape

1627

Chinese, 1570-1641

A renowned calligrapher and painter, Zhang Ruitu held several positions in government before being promoted to the Imperial Cabinet around the same time he painted this pair of wizened pine trees. Sprouting fresh needles on old, gnarled branches, the paired pines suggest moral rectitude and loyalty, a notion echoed by the enduring rock placed between them in the composition.

Ink on satin

Overall (incl mounting & endknobs): 108 3/8 × 32 3/8 in. (275.2 × 82.2 cm)

Image: 80 5/16 × 22 5/8 in. (204 × 57.5 cm)

Partial gift of an anonymous donor and purchased with funds from the Sarah Ferris Fuller Fund

92.1

Provenance: Kaikodo; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1992

Photo: Elizabeth Mann

Now on view at the Asian Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistoryCambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Art Museums, Worlds Within Worlds: The Richard Rosenblum Collection of Chinese Scholars' Rocks, Seattle Art Museum, September 5 - November 16, 1997.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Chinese Art: A Seattle Perspective, December 22, 2007 - July 26, 2009.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Terratopia: The Chinese Landscape in Painting and Film, July 2, 2016 - February 2, 2017.

Published References"Art of Asia Acquired by North American Museums, 1992," Archives of Asian Art, Vol. 46 (1993): p. 108-120, illus no. 45.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

Learn more about Equity at SAM

Pines in Landscape

Pines in Landscape

Related Works

Resources