Minneapolis Institute of Art

Album leaf

Qian Hui'an

Date

c. 1875

Medium

Ink and color on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Qian Hui’an’s style incorporates elements from both Western and Chinese painting conventions. He uses expressive brushstrokes typical of traditional Chinese art to render nature, and he also uses a more defined sense of space, using shading and linear perspective, which is reminiscent of Western art conventions. Each album leaf depicts a different scene and theme. On leaf one, a man takes his son on a fishing expedition; the peach trees in bloom suggest the “Peach Blossom Spring, ” an otherworldly theme. On leaf two, the everyday scene is made unusual with an oddly shaped haystack and faceless main character. On leaf three, the theme is the life of a hermit; those seen on boats are not fishermen but scholar-recluses who are escaping typical social burdens. The scene on leaf four may refer to the story of the creation of humankind by Fuxi and Nüwa, two mythological beings. China, Asia

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