Detail View: The AMICA Library: Playing Weiqi at the Water Pavillion

AMICA ID: 
MMA_.1988.324.3
AMICA Library Year: 
2000
Object Type: 
Paintings
Creator Name: 
Fu Baoshi
Creator Nationality: 
Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese
Creator Dates/Places: 
Chinese, 1904-1965
Creator Name-CRT: 
Fu Baoshi
Title: 
Hanging scroll
Title Type: 
Object name
Title: 
Playing Weiqi at the Water Pavillion
View: 
Full View
Creation Date: 
mid-20th century
Creation Start Date: 
1934
Creation End Date: 
1966
Materials and Techniques: 
Hanging scroll; ink and color on Korean paper
Dimensions: 
49 3/4 x 29 1/2 in. (126.4 x 74.9 cm)
AMICA Contributor: 
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location: 
New York, New York, USA
ID Number: 
1988.324.3
Credit Line: 
Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in memory of La Ferne Hatfield Ellsworth, 1988
Rights: 
Context: 

The intensity of man and nature are matched in this masterful painting by Fu Baoshi depicting scholars playing weiqi (a chesslike game) in a pavilion by a stream. Fu's rich ink, deep jewel-toned colors, and characteristic scumbled surface are combined with fine-line figure drawing at the heart of the picture, where order prevails: tea is served, and a white screen imposes tranquillity. This painting was done during the Second World War, from 1939-46, when Fu lived in Sichuan, near the wartime capital in Chongqing. The poetic mists and rolling hills of the region informed his landscape style. The artist's seals at the bottom of this painting are a compendium of his personality and aspirations. 'All orbits in the universe' reflects his intellectual pluralism. 'Always when drunk' reveals his habit of painting when intoxicated. 'My mission is only to create the new' speaks for itself.

Related Image Identifier Link: 
MMA_.as1988.324.3.R.tif