The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Greeting the Spring

Greeting the Spring

1600
(Chinese, active c. 1591–1626)
China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
handscroll; ink and light color on paper
Image: 34.3 x 252.8 cm (13 1/2 x 99 1/2 in.); Overall: 35 x 1022.2 cm (13 3/4 x 402 7/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1959.45
Location: not on view

Description

This masterfully composed landscape in light colors and delicate brushwork is an image of the water-rich Jiangnan region in southeast China, where Wu Bin was active as an artist. Embedded in rolling hills along lakesides and streams nestle cityscapes hosting numerous spring festivities. Lantern displays and street performances in the villages salute the New Year, and are interwoven with scenes of farming, fishing, and silk making. In one scene in the middle ground, an ox made of clay under a canopy is lead in a procession to an architectural compound, a ceremony known as whipping the spring ox in hope for a good harvest. This handscroll bears five collector seals by the Qianlong emperor indicating his appreciation for the painting.
  • Qing imperial collection (seals of Emperors Qianlong, r. 1736–1795; Jiaqing, r. 1796–1820; and Xuanzong, r. 1821–1850), Beijing, China
    ?-1959
    (Walter Hochstadter [1914–2007], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1959-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Hu, Jing 胡敬. Hu shi shu hua kao san zhong 胡氏書畫考三種. Taipei: Han hua wen hua shi ye gu fen you xian gong si, 1971. ch. 4, p. 31(b)
    Sirén, Osvald. Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles. New York: Ronald Press, 1956. Mentioned: VII, Lists, 269
    Chen, Rentao 陳仁濤 [J.D. Chen]. Gu gong yi yi shu hua mu jiao zhu 故宮已佚書畫目校注. Hong Kong: Dongnan shu ju, 1956. p. 23(a)
    Lee, Sherman E. Chinese Landscape Painting. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1962. Reproduced: cat. no. 75, color pl. V
    Goepper, Roger. The Essence of Chinese Painting. London: Lund Humphries, 1963. Reproduced: pp. 47, 222, color pl. XIII, pl. 76
    Speiser, Werner, Roger Goepper, and Jean Fribourg. Chinese Art: Painting, Calligraphy, Stone Rubbing, Wood Engraving. New York: Universe Books, Inc., 1964. Reproduced: IV, 54, pl. 23.
    Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1964. Reproduced: p. 441, fig. 585
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 265 archive.org
    Auboyer, Jeannine, and Roger Goepper. The Oriental World: India and South-East Asia. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967. Reproduced: p. 106, no. 69
    Auboyer, Jeannine, and Roger Goepper. The Oriental World: India and South-East Asia. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967. Reproduced: pp. 85, 86, color plate p. 191
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 265 archive.org
    Cahill, James. "Wu Pin and His Landscape Painting." In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Chinese Painting: 中國古畫討論會: National Palace Museum, Republic of China, Taipei, 18th-24th June 1970. Taipei: National Palace Museum, 1972. Reproduced: p. 639, fig. 5
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 352 archive.org
    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. 204, pp. 261-262
    Suzuki, Kei 鈴木敬. Chūgoku kaiga sōgō zuroku [中國繪畫總合圖錄 = Comprehensive Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Paintings], 第 1卷. アメリカ·カナダ篇 [= vol. 1 American and Canadian collections]. Tōkyō: Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppankai, 1982. #A22-114
    Talbot, William S. “Visions of Landscape: East and West.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 3 (March 1983): 112–135. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 128-129, fig. 28 www.jstor.org
    Tōyō kaiga no seika: tokubetsuten: Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara [東洋絵画の精華 : 特别展 : クリーヴラント美術館のコレクションから = Highlights of Asian painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art]. Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998. Reproduced: pp. 60-61, cat. no. 36
    Burnett, Katharine P. "Travel and Transformation: Wu Bin's Enjoying Scenery along the Min River." Oriental Art vol. L, no. 4. Aileen Lau, editor. (2006). Reproduced: fig. 4
    Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Reproduced: pp. 296-298
  • Greeting the Spring (Chinese art rotation, galleries 240a, 239, 241c). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 11-August 13, 2017).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 122). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 4-July 23, 2003).
    Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998).
    Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
    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).
    1000 Jahre Chinesische Malerei. Haus der Kunst, Munich, Mùnich, Germany (organizer) (October 16-December 13, 1959).
  • {{cite web|title=Greeting the Spring|url=false|author=Wu Bin|year=1600|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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