The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 26, 2024
Plum Blossoms and Peonies
1741
(Chinese, 1683–1749)
Image: 26 x 96.2 cm (10 1/4 x 37 7/8 in.); Overall: 28.9 x 534.7 cm (11 3/8 x 210 1/2 in.)
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
In East Asian art, peonies traditionally symbolize prosperity and wealth.Description
One of the so-called Yangzhou Eccentrics (a group of painters who lived in Yangzhou and were known for their unorthodox art and lifestyle), Gao Fenghan depicts China’s two most loved flowers in full bloom—the “cold beauty,” or plum blossom, in the first section, and the “king of flowers,” or peony, in the second section. Painted in 1741, the year when Gao decided to leave the south and return home to Shandong province in eastern China, this work was likely a token of farewell. His casual brushwork may indicate his mental and physical struggle at the time. After having crippled his right hand in 1737, Gao used his left hand to paint and achieved a crudeness and eccentric style unattainable before.- ?-1980(James J. Freeman, Kyoto, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1980-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Ho, Wai-kam, Sherman E. Lee, Laurence Sickman, and Marc F. Wilson. Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1980. Reproduced: cat. no. 266, pp. 362-364
- Flora and Fauna (Chinese art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 6, 2020-June 6, 2021).Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 242). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 28, 2014-January 7, 2015).Main Asian Gallery Rotation (Gallery 122). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 10-April 7, 2004).Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).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).
- {{cite web|title=Plum Blossoms and Peonies|url=false|author=Gao Fenghan|year=1741|access-date=26 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.13