The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 22, 2025

Peonies

late 1200s

China, Yuan dynasty

(1271-1368)
hanging scroll, ink and color on silk
Painting: 145.5 x 88.3 cm (57 5/16 x 34 3/4 in.); Overall with knobs: 256 x 113.2 cm (100 13/16 x 44 9/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1976.90
Location: Not on view

Description

In China, the peony is considered the Queen of Flowers, representing the late spring season. The shrubs of this tree peony are in full bloom, blossoming in various colors. Peony paintings were popular from the Southern Song period to the Ming dynasty. The large scale of this decorative scroll suggests that it may have been hung in a reception hall, conveying good wishes for wealth and prosperity.
  • ?–1976
    (Heisando Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1976–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 344 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. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 73, p. 93
  • 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 119). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 16-July 13, 2004).
    Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 11-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982).
    Year in Review, 1976. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 1-March 6, 1977).
  • {{cite web|title=Peonies|url=false|author=|year=late 1200s|access-date=22 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1976.90