Ink Flowers

About the Artwork

Zhao Zhong's flowers, each paired with a poem, echo the fine-style colored flowers of the academic tradition, but instead he used only ink. Fine lines define the contours of each plant, as well as the veins within each petal and leaf. Careful ink washes give subtle modeling to the forms. The combination of lily, narcissus, and peony is unusual as the three belong to no known seasonal or symbolic system popular in the fourteenth century. Zhao’s medical training may have influenced the selection. Powdered lilies, for example, were prescribed to dispel grief, while the bark of tree peony roots was used as a treatment for various blood disorders.

Inscriptions

寶帶同心結，香羅合歡扇。繡作錦鴛鴦，雙雙為君獻。薔薇露灑熏籠衣，馨香奉君君勿違。原初并題。 [印] 趙衷原初畫記; 翠袂素羅韈，玉臺黃金盃。浩歌渡弱水。天風卷海三山開，麻姑方平為招飲，蛟宮獻舞銀濤堆。原初并題。 [印] 雲林清趣、[印] 趙衷原初畫記。; 右用湯叔雅慶元中所寫墨花法作此卷，又效李長吉體賦詩以題之。詩與畫雖未工，要皆出於古人之餘，譬猶欲成方圓而必求其規矩之用也，識者毋誚焉！至正辛丑八月望日，東吳野人趙衷原初謹識。 [印] 趙原初、[印] 傳世清玩

Provenance

Li Guochao 李國超 [20th century] Cheng Qi 程琦 [1911–1988], to his son, Stephen O. K. Chen ?–1967: (Stephen O. K. Chen [20th century], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1967–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967). Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 2-November 24, 1968). The Colors of Ink. Asia House Galleries (January 10-March 3, 1974); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 9-May 12, 1974). 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). Masterpieces of Early Chinese Painting and Calligraphy in American Collections. Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China (organizer) (November 1, 2012-January 3, 2013).

Quick Overview

Artist: Zhao Zhong (Chinese, second half of the 1300s)
Date: 1361
Medium: Handscroll; ink on paper
Dimensions: Overall: 31.8 x 153.2 cm (12 1/2 x 60 5/16 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Chinese Art
Credit line: John L. Severance Fund
Accession no.: 1967.36

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.