COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
mediaCollectionId
AMICO~1~1
The AMICA Library
Collection
true
AMICA ID:
CMA_.1959.138
amicoid
CMA_.1959.138
AMICA ID
false
AMICA Library Year:
1998
aly
1998
AMICA Library Year
false
Object Type:
Paintings
oty
Paintings
Object Type
false
Creator Name:
Zhang, Wu
crn
Zhang, Wu
Creator Name
false
Creator Nationality:
Chinese
crc
Chinese
Creator Nationality
false
Creator Role:
artist
crr
artist
Creator Role
false
Gender:
M
cgn
M
Gender
false
Creator Name-CRT:
Wu Zhang
crt
Wu Zhang
Creator Name-CRT
false
Creator Name:
Chu, Huan
crn
Chu, Huan
Creator Name
false
Creator Nationality:
Chinese
crc
Chinese
Creator Nationality
false
Creator Role:
artist
crr
artist
Creator Role
false
Gender:
M
cgn
M
Gender
false
Creator Name-CRT:
Huan Chu
crt
Huan Chu
Creator Name-CRT
false
Title:
The Nine Songs
otn
The Nine Songs
Title
false
Title Type:
Primary
ott
Primary
Title Type
false
View:
Detail
rid
Detail
View
false
Creation Date:
1361
oct
1361
Creation Date
false
Creation Start Date:
1361
ocs
1361
Creation Start Date
false
Creation End Date:
1361
oce
1361
Creation End Date
false
Materials and Techniques:
handscroll, ink on paper
omd
handscroll, ink on paper
Materials and Techniques
false
Dimensions:
Overall: 28cm x 438.2cm
met
Overall: 28cm x 438.2cm
Dimensions
false
AMICA Contributor:
The Cleveland Museum of Art
oon
The Cleveland Museum of Art
AMICA Contributor
false
Owner Location:
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
oop
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Owner Location
false
ID Number:
1959.138
ooa
1959.138
ID Number
false
Credit Line:
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
ooc
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Credit Line
false
Inscriptions:
Inscribed by the calligrapher in 1361.
oin
Inscribed by the calligrapher in 1361.
Inscriptions
false
Rights:
orl
<a href="http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html"target="_new">http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html</a>
Rights
false
Context:
The subject of this narrative scroll is a lyric work composed by the poet Chu Yuan (343-278 BC) who lived in the southern state of Chu during the late Bronze Age. Based on popular ritual incantations, his songs name eleven different spirits. They eventually became one section within a larger compilation entitled the Chuci (Songs of the South), a book of poetic writings that enjoyed great popularity throughout Chinese history. Chu Yuan's contributions had particular appeal among scholars and civil servants in large part because of his biography. Unfairly dismissed from governmental service, Chu Yuan, a virtuous statesman, was exiled and, in his despair, eventually drowned himself in the Mile River. The songs, actually appeals to the spirits, are imbued with the sadness of an unjust fate.This scroll was created while China was ruled by Mongol khans, a time when the Nine Songs must have had particular significance since many educated scholars were unjustly barred from careers in government. It is a collaborative work that united two great masters of the brush, the painter Zhang Wu and the calligrapher Chu Huan. Divided into eleven sections, the scroll contains illustrations of the primary subject of the lyric, frequently joined by attendants, each followed by a transcription of Chu's verse. Befitting the archaic flavor of the subject, Zhang isolates his figures and renders them in the linear baimiao technique with added washes of ink. For this method of painting, the painter must control the natural flexibility of the brush, maintaining an even pressure on its head while guiding its tip along the spine of each stroke. Suggesting both their appearance and the powerful strength required for their creation, these polished strokes are popularly known as tiexian (iron wire lines), a term first used to describe certain examples of archaic calligraphy. A similar degree of brush control is evident in Chu Huan's inscriptions where rounded, centered- tip strokes terminate with plump full ends. Although a note written at the end of the scroll states that it was based on a work by the Northern Song scholar-amateur painter Li Gonglin (about 1041-1106), the painting is both fresh and spontaneous, reflecting the power and exhilaration that could be inspired in the Chinese tradition by the earlier works of great masters. K.W.
cxd
The subject of this narrative scroll is a lyric work composed by the poet Chu Yuan (343-278 BC) who lived in the southern state of Chu during the late Bronze Age. Based on popular ritual incantations, his songs name eleven different spirits. They eventually became one section within a larger compilation entitled the Chuci (Songs of the South), a book of poetic writings that enjoyed great popularity throughout Chinese history. Chu Yuan's contributions had particular appeal among scholars and civil servants in large part because of his biography. Unfairly dismissed from governmental service, Chu Yuan, a virtuous statesman, was exiled and, in his despair, eventually drowned himself in the Mile River. The songs, actually appeals to the spirits, are imbued with the sadness of an unjust fate.This scroll was created while China was ruled by Mongol khans, a time when the Nine Songs must have had particular significance since many educated scholars were unjustly barred from careers in government. It is a collaborative work that united two great masters of the brush, the painter Zhang Wu and the calligrapher Chu Huan. Divided into eleven sections, the scroll contains illustrations of the primary subject of the lyric, frequently joined by attendants, each followed by a transcription of Chu's verse. Befitting the archaic flavor of the subject, Zhang isolates his figures and renders them in the linear baimiao technique with added washes of ink. For this method of painting, the painter must control the natural flexibility of the brush, maintaining an even pressure on its head while guiding its tip along the spine of each stroke. Suggesting both their appearance and the powerful strength required for their creation, these polished strokes are popularly known as tiexian (iron wire lines), a term first used to describe certain examples of archaic calligraphy. A similar degree of brush control is evident in Chu Huan's inscriptions where rounded, centered- tip strokes terminate with plump full ends. Although a note written at the end of the scroll states that it was based on a work by the Northern Song scholar-amateur painter Li Gonglin (about 1041-1106), the painting is both fresh and spontaneous, reflecting the power and exhilaration that could be inspired in the Chinese tradition by the earlier works of great masters. K.W.
Context
false
Related Image Identifier Link:
CMA_.1959.138det02.tif
ril
CMA_.1959.138det02.tif
Related Image Identifier Link
false