Migrations of Memory-Wild Geese Descend on Level Sands IV no. 3 China

Migrations of Memory-Wild Geese Descend on Level Sands IV no. 3

Migrations of Memory IV No. 3

2021

Peng Wei 彭薇

(Chinese, b. 1974)

China

Album leaf; ink and colors on flax paper

Leaf: 38 x 60 cm (14 15/16 x 23 5/8 in.)

Edward L. Whittemore Fund 2022.4

Location: 240A Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Did You Know?

At a right angle, one can see the glimmer and sparkle of mica on the painting’s surface.

Description

This riverscape in blue-and-green style with a waterfall and fishing boat is directly inspired by the 12th-century handscroll painting Cloudy Mountains by Mi Youren in the CMA’s collection CMA 1933.220.

The calligraphy, a transcribed letter by the Russian composer Dmitry Shostakovich (1906–1975) about a performance of his Fifteenth Symphony, does not directly connect with the landscape, as an inscription would traditionally. This unexpected juxtaposition of Eastern and Western cultural traditions reflects Peng Wei’s identity as a female contemporary artist and a guqin (zither) player.