Cleveland Museum of Art
Paintings after Ancient Masters: Portrait of Tao Yuanming
Chen HongshouLinkedCulture matchlcp-ddbe17606f70
- Date
- 1598–1652
- Medium
- Album leaf; ink and color on silk
- Culture
- China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
- Department
- Chinese Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 149611
Poet Tao Yuanming (365–427 CE) turned down a career as an official in politically turbulent times to return to his home estate, northwest of Mount Lu, to write poetry and enjoy his garden and wine. Having an ailing foot, he was carried in a basket or walked with a staff. As he grew chrysanthemums, Tao is associated with this flower. The artist Chen Hongshou, active in Zhejiang province, suffered through the violent transition from the Ming to the Qing dynasty around 1644. By portraying the poet who lived a millennium earlier during similarly fraught times, Chen intentionally chose an archaistic style. Chen Hongshou made this double-album with twenty paintings for a friend, Lin Zhongqing.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Provenance
- Weng Tonghe 翁同龢 [1830–1904], by descent to Wango H. C. Weng | ?–1979: (Wango H. C. Weng 翁萬戈 [1918–2020], Lyme, NH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) | 1979–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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