The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Bird Sleeping on a Plum Tree

Bird Sleeping on a Plum Tree

early 1900s
(Korean, 1843–1919?)
Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)
hanging scroll, ink on silk
Overall: 103 x 112.4 cm (40 9/16 x 44 1/4 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1998.31
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Yang Ki-hun was one of the most commercially successful painters active in the late 19th century.

Description

The plum’s status as the orthodox symbol of the literati’s pure spirit originated in Lin Bu’s poem "Tiny Plum Flowers in Mountain Garden." The plum was also widely depicted in Korean paintings as part of the Four Gentlemen—or Four Gracious Plants—motif. Here, the plum and bamboo express literati spirituality while the bird with its head pointing downward indicates the artist’s feelings about the unstable situation at the end of the Joseon period. Yang Ki-hun was a Korean scholar-official renowned for painting and calligraphy. King Gojong (reigned 1863–1907) was one of Yang's prominent patrons.
  • ?-1998
    The Honorable Joseph P. Carroll and Roberta Carroll, MD, New York, NY
    1998
    (Joseph P. Carroll, Ltd., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1998-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Seo, Jeong-min. “Yang Gi-hun"s Painting of Geese and Reeds [석연 양기훈 노안도 연구].” Hanguk geunhyundai misul sahak (2015): 107-133. www.dbpia.co.kr
    Treasures from Korea: Arts and Culture of the Joseon Dynasty, 1392-1910. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2014.
    Modern Traditions in Korean Calligraphy and Painting [근대서화]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2019.
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “Painting by 18th-century Italian Master Gaetano Gandolfi among Works Added to CMA Collection,” March 24, 1998, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Sŏn, Sŭng-hye. The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011. Reproduced: cat. no. 75
    Ch'a, Mi-rae, Kwi-suk An, Cleveland Museum of Art, and 국외소재문화재재단. The Korean Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Edited by An Min-hŭi. First edition, English ed. Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Series, 16. Seoul, Republic of Korea: Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 223, no. 125
  • The Lure of Painted Poetry: Cross-cultural Text and Image in Korean and Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 15-August 21, 2011).
  • {{cite web|title=Bird Sleeping on a Plum Tree|url=false|author=Yang Ki-hun (Seuk-Eun)|year=early 1900s|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1998.31