Returning Fisherman
The strong, even brushline Wang Zhen learned from Wu Changshi (1844–1927) is evident in this exuberant painting. Wang's poem elaborates on the picture:
The fisherman exchanges his fish for some wine.
He lives east of willow-covered shores
south of the [Yangzi] River.
Returning contentedly before dusk in the setting sun,
Laughing and calling to his children, as he gets tipsy
in the spring breeze.
(Wen Fong, trans., Between Two Cultures: Late-Nineteenth- and Early-Twentieth-Century Chinese Paintings from the Robert H. Ellsworth Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art [New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001], pp. 72-76)
The fisherman exchanges his fish for some wine.
He lives east of willow-covered shores
south of the [Yangzi] River.
Returning contentedly before dusk in the setting sun,
Laughing and calling to his children, as he gets tipsy
in the spring breeze.
(Wen Fong, trans., Between Two Cultures: Late-Nineteenth- and Early-Twentieth-Century Chinese Paintings from the Robert H. Ellsworth Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art [New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001], pp. 72-76)
Artwork Details
- 清/現代 王震 漁翁圖 軸
- Title: Returning Fisherman
- Artist: Wang Zhen (Chinese, 1867–1938)
- Date: dated 1917
- Culture: China
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 70 1/8 x 37 1/8 in. (178.1 x 94.3 cm)
Overall with mounting: 109 x 43 in. (276.9 x 109.2 cm)
Overall with knobs: 109 x 46 3/4 in. (276.9 x 118.7 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in memory of La Ferne Hatfield Ellsworth, 1986
- Object Number: 1986.267.155
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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