Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009720Flowering Crab Apple
by Shen Zhou 沈周
About the Artwork
Shen Zhou painted a broken branch (zhezhi 折枝) of crab apple, a fragment of nature rather than the full plant in its natural context. Shen uses calligraphic outlines in pure ink to depict the flower petals. The swift yet precise brushstrokes together with the slight S-shaped branch convey vitality. The inscription is a poem written by the artist, commenting on the lovely color and melancholic aura of the crab apple blossom. Shen Zhou is the founder of the Wu School, a group of scholars and officials active around Suzhou in eastern China, known for practicing painting and calligraphy in a refined and elegant style.
Inscriptions
粧[粉]合胭脂作曉粧，富於顔色吝於香。 東風不肯全分付，相對梅花各斷腸。 弘治庚申春日, 在雙蛾僧舍見海棠盛開, 適值陸汝器在坐索圖, 此繪以寄興。 長洲沈周 [印]啟南; 石田; 白石翁; 1 additional seal of Wu Yun 吳雲 (1811–1883).
Provenance
Wu Yun 吳雲 [1811–1883] Saito Etsuzo 齋藤悅 [early 1900s], Sumiyoshi, Japan (Elm & Co., Osaka, Japan, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Perry) c. 1960s–1987: Mr. A. [Albert] Dean [1909–1987] and Mrs. A. Dean Perry [1911–1996], Cleveland, OH 1987–1997: Mrs. A. Dean [Helen Wade Greene] Perry [1911–1996], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1997–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Shen Zhou (Chinese, 1427–1509)
- Date
- 1500
- Medium
- hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions
- Painting: 87 x 28.5 cm (34 1/4 x 11 1/4 in.); Overall with knobs: 238.5 x 52.5 cm (93 7/8 x 20 11/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Chinese Art
- Credit line
- Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
- Accession no.
- 1997.101
More by Shen Zhou 沈周 in museum collections
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00000640
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00001224
Distant View of Tiger Hill from the Canal Mooring, from Twelve Views of Tiger Hill, Suzhou
Shen Zhou 沈周after 1490 · Painting
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009552
The Thousand Acres of Clouds, from Twelve Views of Tiger Hill, Suzhou
Shen Zhou 沈周after 1490 · Painting
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009581
Open-access museum record · AT-00009720
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