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Bamboo, Rock, and Tall Tree
by Ni Zan 倪瓚
Inscriptions
Artist's inscription, signature, and seal: Windy and rainy days - what a chilly wheat-harvesting season, With brush in hand, I fight depression by copying. Fortunately, I can depend upon you, my friend, to send me consolation - "Pine-lard" wind, and meat with bamboo shoots that never fail to awaken appetite. Yunlinzi, Zan. [seal] Ziyiyue.; 4 additional inscriptions and 14 additional seals: 1 poem and 3 seals, possibly of Chang Yü (1277–1350); 1 poem and 1 seal of Yüan Hua (1316–end of 14th c,); 1 poem and 2 seals of Lu P'ing (1438–1521); 1 seal of Liang Qingbiao 梁清標 (1620–1691); 1 poem and 1 seal of Chao Yü (1638–1713); 1 seal of ? Jen-lan (dates unknown); 2 seals of Gu Wenbin 顧文彬 (1811–1889); 1 seal of C. C. Wang 王季遷 (1907–2003); 2 seals unidentified.; Poem possibly by Chang Yü: The Daoist of the Cloudy Forest, Ni Yuanzhen, How many people can enjoy a fame in old age like yours? Seeing the painting, I wrote the poem in fond memories. I feel as if I am bathed in the light of the fading moon Which shines on your spirit as always.
Provenance
second half of the 1600s: Liang Qingbiao 梁清標 [1620–1691] Gu Wenbin 顧文彬 [1811–1889] ?–1978: (C. C. Wang 王季遷 [1907–2003], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1978–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
1000 Jahre Chinesische Malerei. Haus der Kunst, Munich, Mùnich, Germany (organizer) (October 16-December 13, 1959). Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 2-November 24, 1968). Year in Review: 1978. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 13-March 18, 1979). Chinese Paintings: Themes and Techniques. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 7-April 5, 1981). 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). Asian Autumn: New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 18-December 31, 1994). The Artist as Collector: Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from the C.C. Wang Family Collection. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (September 3, 1999-January 9, 2000). Masterpieces of Early Chinese Painting and Calligraphy in American Collections. Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China (organizer) (November 1, 2012-January 3, 2013).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Ni Zan (Chinese, 1301–1374)
- Date
- c. 1300s
- Medium
- hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 67.3 x 36.8 cm (26 1/2 x 14 1/2 in.); Overall with knobs: 231.4 x 64.2 cm (91 1/8 x 25 1/4 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Chinese Art
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Accession no.
- 1978.65
More by Ni Zan 倪瓚 in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009985
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