Cleveland Museum of Art

Absorb the Past; Abandon the Present

Qian Hui'an

Date

1800s–1900s

Medium

Accordion-style album of 10 painted leaves; ink and color on silk

Culture

China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Qian Huian, active in Shanghai, was best known for his paintings of beautiful women, and historic and mythological figures, rendered in a distinct style. His figures appear eccentric and the color palette pale to pink. The album’s title, Absorb the Past, Abandon the Present , reflect the desire to find refuge in China’s Past, as the country was going through the devastating Taiping rebellion at the time the paintings were created. Leaf four depicts Tao Yuanming, carried by servants in a basket as he had an ailing foot. Tao wrote the Peach Blossom Spring tale, in which a fisherman loses his way and ends up in a utopia.

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