Retreat on an Autumn Day, in Cursive Script

閑居秋日, 草書

dated 1523

Zhu Yunming 祝允明

(Chinese, 1460–1527)

Culture

China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

Medium

Handscroll; ink on paper

Measurements

height: 34.3 cm (13 1/2 in.); Calligraphy section: 514.2 cm (202 7/16 in.); Roll: 34.6 x 8.3 cm (13 5/8 x 3 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of the Gracious Pine Studio Collection 2025.192

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

Zhu Yunming stated that he was in an inebriated state when he created this work.

Description

This masterwork of calligraphy by Zhu Yunming from Suzhou combines two poems by the artist in cursive script style, characterized by its uninhibited, swift, and intuitive brushwork, so powerful that it here dissolved characters into dots or lines. Written from right to left and top to bottom and alternating in light dry to deep saturated ink, single characters may take a whole column or extend into the next one. Following the movement of the brush, they seem to dance over the paper.