Artwork Page for Paintings after Ancient Masters: Portrait of Tao Yuanming

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Paintings after Ancient Masters: Portrait of Tao Yuanming

老蓮橅古: 菊花

1598–1652

Chen Hongshou 陳洪綬

(Chinese, 1598/99–1652)
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Culture
China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Medium
Album leaf; ink and color on silk
Measurements
Overall: 30.2 x 26.7 cm (11 7/8 x 10 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1979.27.1.5
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

Chen Hongshou made this double-album with twenty paintings for a friend, Lin Zhongqing.

Description

Poet Tao Yuanming (365–427 CE) turned down a career as an official in politically turbulent times to return to his home estate, northwest of Mount Lu, to write poetry and enjoy his garden and wine. Having an ailing foot, he was carried in a basket or walked with a staff. As he grew chrysanthemums, Tao is associated with this flower.

The artist Chen Hongshou, active in Zhejiang province, suffered through the violent transition from the Ming to the Qing dynasty around 1644. By portraying the poet who lived a millennium earlier during similarly fraught times, Chen intentionally chose an archaistic style.
An ink and color painting on silk depicts Tao Yuanming, a man with light skin tone, walking to our right with his gaze directed downward. He wears a dark cap and voluminous gray-brown robe with red-orange linings, holding a tall, knobby wooden staff with both hands. Vertical columns of Chinese calligraphy and red square seals frame the figure on the left and right sides.

Paintings after Ancient Masters: Portrait of Tao Yuanming

1598–1652

Chen Hongshou

(Chinese, 1598/99–1652)
China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

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