Flowering Plum and Rock
Hu Yuan, raised in the arts of painting, calligraphy, and poetry, was denied the income of his gentry birthright when Taiping rebels confiscated his property. He came to Shanghai to earn a living selling paintings.
Hu's literal taste is evident in this traditional subject of rock and plum. His inscription records that he first painted the strange and powerful rock by lanternlight on a cold night and then added a branch of winter plum, "the soul of the world." Hu's romantic intensity goes beyond the tradition of chaste nobility associated with this genre.
Hu's literal taste is evident in this traditional subject of rock and plum. His inscription records that he first painted the strange and powerful rock by lanternlight on a cold night and then added a branch of winter plum, "the soul of the world." Hu's romantic intensity goes beyond the tradition of chaste nobility associated with this genre.
Artwork Details
- 清 胡遠 梅石圖 軸
- Title: Flowering Plum and Rock
- Artist: Hu Yuan (Chinese, 1823–1886)
- Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Date: dated 1876
- Culture: China
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 45 × 18 in. (114.3 × 45.7 cm)
Overall with mounting: 84 1/2 × 24 3/4 in. (214.6 × 62.9 cm)
Overall with knobs: 84 1/2 × 28 5/8 in. (214.6 × 72.7 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in memory of La Ferne Hatfield Ellsworth, 1986
- Object Number: 1986.267.35
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Hu Yuan
Dated 1875
Hu Yuan
Hu Yuan
Hu Yuan
dated 1885
Hu Yuan
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