Poem
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.明/清 傅山 草書七言絕句 軸 絹本
This monumental work is a perfect visual encapsulation of Fu Shan’s credo: “Better awkward than clever, better ugly than charming, better fragmented than slick, better straightforward than calculating.” Works by Fu’s contemporaries Ni Yuanlu and Wang Duo also achieve the effect of intentional “ugliness,” but they do so by different means. Where Ni and Wang use quirky angles and shifts of direction, Fu uses free—seemingly uncontrollable—meandering, rounded lines. All three saturate the surface of the silk with splotches of wet ink, a bold gesture that goes against traditional ideas of beauty in calligraphy.
The poem reads:
Taking things easy in old age, I shun all worldly engagements,
And sleep day after day behind the tightly shut doors of my rustic home.
But then deep feelings stir up attachments;
A red lotus blossoms in the rain.
—Trans. by Shi-yee Liu
This monumental work is a perfect visual encapsulation of Fu Shan’s credo: “Better awkward than clever, better ugly than charming, better fragmented than slick, better straightforward than calculating.” Works by Fu’s contemporaries Ni Yuanlu and Wang Duo also achieve the effect of intentional “ugliness,” but they do so by different means. Where Ni and Wang use quirky angles and shifts of direction, Fu uses free—seemingly uncontrollable—meandering, rounded lines. All three saturate the surface of the silk with splotches of wet ink, a bold gesture that goes against traditional ideas of beauty in calligraphy.
The poem reads:
Taking things easy in old age, I shun all worldly engagements,
And sleep day after day behind the tightly shut doors of my rustic home.
But then deep feelings stir up attachments;
A red lotus blossoms in the rain.
—Trans. by Shi-yee Liu
Artwork Details
- 明/清 傅山 草書七言絕句 軸 絹本
- Title: Poem
- Calligrapher: Fu Shan (Chinese, 1607–1684)
- Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Date: Undated
- Culture: China
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on silk
- Dimensions: Image: 74 3/4 × 18 5/8 in. (189.9 × 47.3 cm)
Overall with mounting: 109 × 25 in. (276.9 × 63.5 cm)
Overall with knobs: 109 × 28 5/8 in. (276.9 × 72.7 cm) - Classification: Calligraphy
- Credit Line: Lent by Guanyuan Shanzhuang Collection
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art