The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Old Pine Tree

Old Pine Tree

late 1530s
(Chinese, 1470–1559)
China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
handscroll, ink on paper
Painting: 28 x 139.3 cm (11 x 54 13/16 in.); Overall: 29.3 x 596.9 cm (11 9/16 x 235 in.)
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1964.43
Location: not on view

Description

Here the natural appearance of a gnarled and vine-entangled pine has been transformed into a rhythmic abstraction of brushstrokes and ink tonalities, with unifying opposites—opening and closing, rising and falling—that provide the design across the horizontal scroll. The artist's inscription reads: "The force of change beyond restraint; / The dragon's whiskers are likened to a forest of spears."
  • Qian Shisheng 錢士昇 [1575–1652]
    at least by 1736-c. 1911
    Qing imperial collection (seals of Emperors Qianlong, r. 1736–1795; Jiaqing, r. 1796–1820; and Xuanzong, r. 1909-11)
    ?-1964
    (Jean-Pierre Dubosc [1904–1988], Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1964-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Mi dian zhu lin/Shi qu bao ji 秘殿珠林石渠寶笈. 2 vols. Taipei: Guo li gu gong bo wu yuan [National Palace Museum], 1971. (Original text dated 1745.) Mentioned; vol. 1, p. 602
    Ferguson, John C 福開森. Li dai zhu lu hua mu 歷代著錄畵目. Nanjing: Chin-ling University, Zhong guo wen hua yan jiu suo 金陵大學中國文化硏究所, 1934. p. 23
    Sirén, Osvald. Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles. New York: Ronald Press, 1956. Mentioned: VII, Lists, 263
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 264 archive.org
    Lee, Sherman E. “Literati and Professionals: Four Ming Painters.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 53, no. 1, 1966, pp. 2–25. Reproduced: pp. 7, 8, fig. 2 25152081
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 264 archive.org
    Clapp, Anne de Coursey. Wen Cheng-Ming: The Ming Artist and Antiquity. Ascona: Artibus Asiae Publishers, 1975. Reproduced: pp. 75, 76, fig. 39
    Edwards, Richard. The Art of Wen Cheng-Ming (1470-1559). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, 1976. cat. no. XVII
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 350 archive.org
    Hironobu Kohara 古原宏伸, Richard Edwards, and Takeo Hibino 日比野丈夫. Shin Shū, Bun Chōmei [沈周 文徴明 = Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming]. Tōkyō: Chūō Kōronsha, 1978. Reproduced: p. 168, pl. 61
    Watson, William. L'art de l'ancienne Chine. Paris: Mazenod, 1979. Reproduced: pl. 150
    Wilson, J. Keith. "Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 8 (1990): 286-323. Reproduced: p. 308-09, 323 www.jstor.org
    Laozi 老子 and James Legge, translator. Tao Te Ching 道德经. New York: Metro Books, 2008. Reproduced: fig. 33
    Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Reproduced: pp. 270-278
    Li, T. June. "Debts of Gratitude." Orientations 49, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 2018): 117-119. Reproduced: no. 119, fig. 3
    Spee, Clarissa von, Cai Guo-Qiang, and David Stradling. Cai Guo-Qiang: Cuyahoga River Lightning. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 48
  • Silent Poetry: Masterworks of Chinese Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 14, 2015-April 24, 2016).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 242). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 28, 2014-January 7, 2015).
    Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 24-November 25, 1990).
    Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
    Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 10-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982).
    The Art of Wen Cheng-ming. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI (January 25-February 29, 1976); Asia House Gallery, New York, NY (April 7-June 7, 1976)
    The Colors of Ink. Asia House Galleries (January 10-March 3, 1974); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 9-May 12, 1974).
    Year in Review (1964). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1964-January 31, 1965).
    Mostra d'arte cinese (Settimo centenario di Marco Polo). Palazzo Ducale, Venice, Italy (1954).
  • {{cite web|title=Old Pine Tree|url=false|author=Wen Zhengming|year=late 1530s|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1964.43