Squirrels on the Chestnut Tree

松鼠圖

1300s

Ge Shuying 松田

(Chinese, active 1300s)
Image: 97 x 39.4 cm (38 3/16 x 15 1/2 in.); Overall: 181.6 x 58 cm (71 1/2 x 22 13/16 in.)
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Location: not on view

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Did You Know?

Dr. Ju-hsi Chou argues that Yongtian and Songtian were different, but related (father-son, master-pupil, or brothers) painters of squirrels. Ge was apparently their family name. A Tokyo National Museum squirrel painting signed Songtian Shanren (松田山人) has a seal giving the artist's formal name as Ge Shuying (葛淑英).

Description

One squirrel perches on a branch nibbling a chestnut, while the other on ground is approaching a fallen chestnut. The painter used fine, short staccato strokes to simulate the animal’s soft fur, while the tree is depicted with broader wet strokes in a rougher manner.
Ge Shuying is known for his depictions of squirrels in a monochrome style characterized by crisp, decisive brushstrokes. He may have been a Chan (Zen) priest-painter, or perhaps a Daoist painter, active in the Hangzhou region of eastern China. From there his works spread to Japan, where squirrel paintings gained the attention of Japanese collectors.
Squirrels on the Chestnut Tree

Squirrels on the Chestnut Tree

1300s

Ge Shuying

(Chinese, active 1300s)
China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)

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