Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009653About the Artwork
The loquat is a plant native to China that produces a juicy, yellow fruit in early summer. The artist may have intentionally extended the branches beyond the paper to emphasize the abundance of fruit. Xugu’s subjects of flowers, goldfish, and loquats express wishes for abundance and wealth, and must have appealed to his patrons. Xugu gave up his career as a military official during the Taiping rebellion (1850–64) and became an itinerant monk who painted for a living. He spent the later years of his life in Shanghai and his fame as an artist is associated with that city.
Inscriptions
友山仁兄大人屬即教之，虛谷. [印]虛谷書畫; 未接虛公一經書2，夜臺畫興近何如。 聾丞今日狂談藝，更有誰人能起予。 雨亭以友山所貽虛谷和上畫屬，题於泰山殘石樓中，戊戌三日二十日，高邕并記。; 虚谷上人，余未見其人。觀高聾題大氏，亦海上高流也。其畫下筆如風，隨意涂抹，皆成逸趣。此幀畫枇杷纍纍如缀金，坐其下若咽洞庭五月涼也！ 雨亭君所藏，今以貽頌周先生。清道人題。
Provenance
c. 1888-89–?: Youshan 友山 [late 19th century], given to Yuting Yuting 雨亭 [late 19th century] Zhang Songzhou 張頌周 [b. 1873], by descent to Zhang Bihan ?–1995: Zhang Bihan (Chang Pi-han) 張碧寒 [1909–1995], Piedmont, CA ?–1999: (Kaikodo America, Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1999–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Power and Possession: Chinese Calligraphy and Inscribed Objects – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 13, 2018-February 3, 2019). When Salt was Gold: Yangzhou, City of Riches and Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 12-November 5, 2023).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Xugu (Chinese, 1823–1896)
- Date
- c. 1888–89
- Medium
- Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions
- Painting: 112.6 x 52.2 cm (44 5/16 x 20 9/16 in.); Overall (no knobs): 231 x 70.5 cm (90 15/16 x 27 3/4 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Chinese Art
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 1999.6
More by Xugu in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009653
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