Plum Blossoms

About the Artwork

A native of Anhui province, Wang Shishen was a professional painter who specialized in plum blossoms. He moved to Yangzhou in the late 1720s to seek patrons. Here, the daring composition of a flowering plum branch is balanced through the addition of four poems. Wang’s poems evoke nostalgia for the forgotten Six Dynasties period and the glorious Sui dynasty, during which the Grand Canal was built while Yangzhou was the southern capital of the empire. Other inscriptions in the upper part of the painting allude to the fact that Wang had developed blindness in one eye, probably at the time he conceived this painting.

Inscriptions

Artist's Poem 1. Looking for plum blossoms with friends, enjoying the fresh clear day, My black shoes and cotton socks feel light. With fine groves in front of the ancient temple door, I walk to and fro, as in a painting.; Artist's Poem 2. One clear chime breaks the silence in the Mountains, All the heroes of the Six Dynasties, after a thousand years, are forgotten. Enjoy the idle days under a Buddhist window, Plum blossoms monopolize the east wind with their branches.; Artist's Poem 3. Next to the little stone bridge is a path leading west, Wherever you walk, your staff will touch some dike of the Sui Dynasty. Tourists love only the Ch'i-ling temple, So sea-gulls take to startled flight and horses neigh.; Artist's Poem 4. After ten years I revisited the I-su An, The old plums are no longer on the southeast side of the garden. I pass a peaceful night, though unable to offer fragrant flowers, As bright moonlight cheerlessly falls upon the Buddhist shrine.; Artist's inscription, signature, and 3 seals: Four poems composed on our way from the Iron Buddha Temple to the I-su An Retreat at P'ing-shan, while looking for plum blossoms with friends. Ch'ao-lin, Wang Shih-shen painted [this]. [2 seals] Wang Shih-sheng; Chin-jen fu. [seal, lower right corner] Ch'ao-lin.; 3 colophons, 3 additional inscriptions, and 23 additional seals: 1 inscription, dated 1739, and 2 seals of Mao Yin-k'uei (17th–18th c.); 1 colophon and 3 seals of Lu K'uei-hsün (17th–18th c.); 1 colophon and 3 seals of Chu Chin (1686–1769); 1 colophon and 4 seals of Yü Pi-k'uei (17th–18th c.); 1 inscription and 2 seals of Yao Shih-yü (1695–1749); 1 inscription and 3 seals of ? Shu-teh; 1 seal of Shen Wu (dates unknown); 1 seal of Lou Ts'un (19th c.); 2 seals of Cheng Qi 程琦 (1911–1988); 2 unidentified.

Provenance

?–1985: The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1985–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14-November 13, 1988). When Salt was Gold: Yangzhou, City of Riches and Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 12-November 5, 2023).

Quick Overview

Artist: Wang Shishen (Chinese, 1686–1759)
Date: probably 1739
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions: Painting: 144.4 x 75.7 cm (56 7/8 x 29 13/16 in.); Overall: 238 x 89.1 cm (93 11/16 x 35 1/16 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Chinese Art
Credit line: The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith
Accession no.: 1985.366

More by Wang Shishen in museum collections

Landscapes and Flowers
Wang Shishen
dated 1745 · Painting
Public collection via the Metropolitan Museum of ArtAT-00014328

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