Bamboo in Snow

About the Artwork

Hong Fan’s bamboo stalks amidst rocky boulders bend gently forward. Light washes of ink suggest a misty, wintry atmosphere. Fan was inspired in style and concept by the poet, calligrapher and painter, Su Shi (1037-1101) who considered bamboo an ideal subject to express the calligraphic qualities of brushwork. Bamboo that bends, but does not break under the heavy snow, was also an image for the upright scholar who withstands adverse times.

Inscriptions

戊寅夏至石農洪範; 洪範之印; 石農詩畫

Quick Overview

Artist: Hong Fan (Chinese, active late 1700s–early 1800s)
Date: 1818
Medium: hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions: Painting only: 164.5 x 87.6 cm (64 3/4 x 34 1/2 in.); Overall with knobs: 288 x 121.7 cm (113 3/8 x 47 15/16 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Chinese Art
Credit line: Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Accession no.: 2023.161

Provenance

?–1960s: (Portobello Market vender, London, England, sold to John Gosse) 1960s–2017: Mr. John Gosse [1914–2017], Kew, Richmond, London, England, to Hanshan Tang 2017–2023: (Hanshan Tang, London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 2023–: 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.