Artwork Page for Portrait of An Qi

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Portrait of An Qi

麓村高逸圖

1715

Wang Hui 王翬

(Chinese, 1632–1717)

Tu Luo 涂洛

(Chinese, active c. 1715)

Yang Jin 楊晉

(Chinese, 1644–1728)
Culture
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
Medium
hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Measurements
Image: 122 x 53.6 cm (48 1/16 x 21 1/8 in.); Overall: 259.7 x 80.1 cm (102 1/4 x 31 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1971.17
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

Seven of An Qi's close friends wrote poetic inscriptions on the silk brocade mount around his portrait.

Description

An Qi, the subject of the portrait, was a second-generation salt merchant from Korea. He used part of his wealth to collect art. At the time this painting was commissioned, An was less than 40 years old. He is represented as a Daoist recluse in nature, informally dressed with attributes such as books and a wrapped guqin instrument, a portrait convention for literati-scholars since the Six Dynasties period (220–589 CE). The local Taihu rock, banana plants, and crane suggest a southern garden and a life in seclusion. An’s portrait is evidence of merchants aspiring to the scholar-official class.

According to the inscription, this painting was the joint effort of three men, the eldest and most famous was Wang Hui. While the garden setting is homogenous in style, it contrasts with the application of opaque pigments and shading employed for the depiction of An Qi’s face.
A hanging scroll in ink and light color depicts an elderly man seated on a patterned rug. Beside him, a young attendant stands beneath broad banana leaves. A white crane occupies a bridge over a stream in the foreground. Misty, undulating hills rise behind dense clusters of trees and vegetation. Wide vertical borders of cream paper flank the central scene, densely inscribed with columns of Chinese calligraphy and numerous vermilion seals.

Portrait of An Qi

1715

Wang Hui, Tu Luo, Yang Jin

(Chinese, 1632–1717), (Chinese, active c. 1715), (Chinese, 1644–1728)
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)

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