Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009522Paintings after Ancient Masters: Volume 1
About the Artwork
The twenty paintings in this double album by Chen Hongshou include landscapes, figures, and flowers. It also has one leaf featuring a woman, an often-used subject not found in the other albums from the latter part of his career. His late works are wonderful summations of Chen's peculiar and quirky art—archaistic, hyper-refined—but without accompanying shallowness or sentimentality. His figures and landscapes in the late albums are miniaturized, not unlike the small Chinese gardens, or the carefully selected small table rocks or old roots used for contemplation to see the world in miniature. This loss of scale is quite deliberate and reflects the psychological situation of a depressed class like the Ming loyalist officials and scholars, deprived of their integrity and honor, and forced to lead a diminished and restricted existence.
Inscriptions
Artist's titles, signatures, and 21 seals: A. Scholars in a Garden. Hongshou painted for old Chung. [seal] Chang-hou. B. Laozi Riding an Ox. Hongshou respectfully painted. [seal] Ch'en yin Hongshou. C. Narcissus and Bare Trees. The Taoist Chung-ch'ing entrusted Lao-lien to paint [this]. [seal] Chang-hou. D. Autumn Landscape. Lao-lien painted this for Lao-ts'ang. [seal] Chang-hou. E. Portrait of Tao Yuanming. Lao-lien [seal] Hongshou. F. Lotus and Rocks. Hung-shou painted after the style of Ts'ui Po and presented it to the Buddhist disciple Lin Chung-ch'ing. [seal] Chang-hou. G. Daoist and Crane in Autumn Landscape. The old man Fu-ch'ih painted for the Daoist Chung-ch'ing. [seal] Chang-hou. H. Portrait of Chung-ch'ing in a Landscape. Lao-lien painted for Chung-ch'ing. [2 seals] Chang-hou; Ch'en yin Hung-shou. I. Chrysanthemum and Rock. Hongshou [seal] Hongshou. J. Landscape in the Style of Ni Zan. Lao-lien [seal] Chang-hou. L. Mr. Five Willows (Wu-liu), Tao Yuanming. Mr. Five Willows Chung-ch'ing entrusted Hongshou to paint [this]. [seal] Chang-hou. M. A Lohan [after Kuan-hsui]. Buddhist disciple Chen Hongshou respectfully painted. [2 seals] Chun-t'i ti-tzu; Chang-hou. N. A Bird and Peach-Blossom Branch. Hui-lun-shang painted after Tao-chun [Emperor Huizong] and presented it to Ts'ang-fu chu-chih. [seal] Chen yin Hongshou. O. Travellers in an Autumn Landscape. Hongshou [seal] Chang-hou. P. A Lady. Hongshou [seal] Hongshou . Q. Chrysanthemum. Hongshou painted in imitation of the Northern Song style for Daoist friend, Ts'ang-fu. [seal] Chang-hou. R. Scholar Reading in a Thatched Hut by a Waterfall. Chung-ch'ing entrusted Hongshou to paint. [seal] Chang-hou. S. Scholar with Staff and Brush. Hongshou [seal] Chang-hou. T. An Ancient Tree. Hongshou [seal] Chang-hou. U. Rock, Old Tree, and Bamboo. Hongshou [seal] Hongshou.; 2 colophons (leaves K and V) and 34 additional seals: 24 seals of Lin Chung-ch'ing (Lin Ts'ang-fu or Lin T'ing-tung, friend of Chen Hongshou, for whom the album was painted); 2 colophons, dated 1893 and 1899, and 5 seals of Weng Tonghe 翁同龢 (1830-1904); 2 seals of Weng Tongjue 翁同爵 (older brother of Weng Tonghe; 1814-1877); 2 seals of Weng Wan-go 翁萬戈 (1918-2020); 1 unidentified.
Provenance
Weng Tonghe 翁同龢 [1830–1904], by descent to Wango H. C. Weng ?–1979: (Wango H. C. Weng 翁萬戈 [1918–2020], Lyme, NH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1979–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
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); The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (December 3, 1982-February 28, 1983). Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Chen Hongshou (Chinese, 1598/99–1652)
- Date
- 1598–1652
- Medium
- Album with eleven leaves; ink or ink and color on silk
- Dimensions
- Overall: 30.2 x 26.7 cm (11 7/8 x 10 1/2 in.); Overall: 30.2 x 53.4 cm (11 7/8 x 21 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Chinese Art
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 1979.27.1
More by Chen Hongshou in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009522
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