Images

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=F8BC341884E2BCB5784CC9905CD699DA1CE58FED7C5960DBEA319F6CF2A2276B&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=6&f=1974.26_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=2E3432EE8B2ACB8B4B6FB66A1D62519DB1C429B9624E29C09ABEDC759CB3BF63&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=1&f=%5C1974.26_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=850AA47771F748E11065E43A13AD75001A38A7425176C2E28A0F5FB04980613E&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=1&f=%5C1974.26_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=94E086776D96050C743A0C15AC111F4924B1588048491E3417DEE26D3D457092&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=1&f=%5C1974.26det01_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=FACD9F0D4D53ED3A9867C082E71768DA7F42D1F32BD74182F07FB4954C241FD8&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=1&f=%5C1974.26det02_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=FACD9F0D4D53ED3A4D8BF4E7FEC6E7B5DD5A8FCE27144852210A660D47C637DD&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=1&f=%5C1974.26det03_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=FACD9F0D4D53ED3ADC147A51887764CA67EE4387AE92917C3CDD996E3BD6176D&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=1&f=%5C1974.26det04_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=B39F1847B81B1F2863BD9A25A139B839E1965D5FA9B88DB985EE15B15BBF55DC&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=1&f=%5C1974.26det04_enhanced_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=B39F1847B81B1F28C7C58BC2CFE1B03D05A0A8E636C8F30AC46B67557983292D&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=1&f=%5C1974.26det05_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=777AA1F346FAE0ED88BE1CAF5B854E9B740D3E4C92436031541884DD38B6BC9A&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=1&f=%5C1974.26det05_enhanced_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=777AA1F346FAE0ED29DADF3D75E4940A08BC573BAF7EA5D8A7A5342871035984&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=1&f=%5C1974.26det06_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=777AA1F346FAE0EDBA070EF0ED989E7265E8BC6734E6355B1D13D8C5ECB1711E&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=1&f=%5C1974.26det06_enhanced_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=5032175588C59319DE0939E7A443893E2B2265C438418E2AB81D803BE9E03483&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=1&f=%5C1974.26det07_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=5032175588C59319FDBDFF2D09DABDA3C3BFA3EEA9073F95FCAC715991312DA9&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=1&f=%5C1974.26det07_enhanced_o2.jpg

https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=EB4225706CCEC2069145DB3E317D99EBB6450B2A253ECB00D397FF481A3F71D6&s=24247294&se=889606143&v=1&f=%5C1974.26det08_o2.jpg

Additional Views

Apr 8, 2004

Apr 29, 2010

A Prunus in the Moonlight

月下梅花圖

1300s

Wang Mian 王冕

(Chinese, 1287–1359)

China, Yuan dynasty

(1271-1368)

Hanging scroll; ink on silk

Painting: 164.6 x 94.6 cm (64 13/16 x 37 1/4 in.); Overall with knobs: 260.6 x 126.3 cm (102 5/8 x 49 3/4 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1974.26

Location

003 Special Exhibition Hall

Did you know?

The painting portrays the plum in the nighttime, as indicated by the tint of the background and the presence of the moon.

Description

The plum flourishes in the mild climate of the south, and it was not before the Six Dynasties period (220– 589 CE) that the motif began to be appreciated by southern artists, many of whom had emigrated from the north.

Wang Mian from Zhejiang province had failed the civil and military service examinations and later rejected appointments under the Mongol government. Instead, he chose to return home, making a living by selling plum paintings. Few of Wang’s works have survived, but they demonstrate that by his time the ink-plum (momei) genre was fully developed.

Inscriptions

Inscription

海雲初破月團團，獨鶴高飛夜未殘。/ 一片笙簫湖水上，玉妃含笑倚闌干。王元章作

Inscription Translation

Artist's inscription, signature, and 2 seals: A break in the sea of clouds unveils the circle of moon./ A single crane flies high as the night is still young./ The limpid sounds of pan-pipe and flute sweep over the lake./ The jade concubine smiles faintly and leans over the railing. Made by Wang Yuanzhang

Inscription

8 additional seals: 6 of the Qianlong 乾隆 emperor (r. 1736-95); 2 of Dong Gao 董誥 (1740-1818).

Provenance

Qing imperial collection, seals of the Qianlong Emperor, reigned 1736–95

Dong Gao 董誥 [1740–1818]

Marquis Asano Nagakoto 侯爵淺野長勲 [1842–1937], Hiroshima, Japan

Yasuda Family 安田家, chief retainer of the Asano Family

?–1974

(Mayuyama & Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1974–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1974." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Vol. 62, No. 3, (Mar., 1975), pp. 62-102. Reproduced: p. 90, no. 164 www.jstor.org

"Annual Report for 1974.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 62, no. 6, 1975, pp. 175–209. Reproduced: cover www.jstor.org

Mayuyama, Junkichi. Mayuyama, seventy years = Ryūsen shūhō : sōgyō shichijusshūnen kinen. Tōkyō: Mayuyama Ryūsendō, 1976. Reproduced: Vol. 11, pl. 167

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 344 archive.org

Ho, Wai-kam, Sherman E. Lee, Laurence Sickman, and Marc F. Wilson. Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1980. Reproduced: cat. no. 88, p. 108

Williams, Marjorie. Chinese Painting--an Escape from the "Dusty" World. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981. Reproduced: p. 49, fig. 33

Mayuyama, Junkichi 繭山順吉. Bijutsushō no yorokobi [美術商のよろこび The Joys of an Art Dealer]. Tokyo, Japan: Mayuyama Junkichi, 1988. Reproduced: pp. 74–75, pl. 27

Little, Stephen. “Dimensions of a Portrait: Du Jin's ‘The Poet Lin Bu Walking in the Moonlight.’” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 75, no. 9, 1988, pp. 330–349. Reproduced: p. 335, fig. 2 www.jstor.org

May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: no. 81, p. 76; Mentioned: p. 119

Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Reproduced: pp. 147-149

"New in the Galleries." Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. March/April 2017. Reproduced: back cover

Spee, Clarissa von. "From the SIlk Road to the Imperial Court: Chinese Textiles in the Cleveland Museum of Art." Arts of Asia 48, no. 3 (May-June 2018): 50-56. Reproduced: p. 56, p. 12

Giuffrida, Noelle. Separating Sheep from Goats: Sherman E. Lee and Chinese Art Collecting in Postwar America. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2018. Reproduced: p. 155, fig. 87

Exhibition history

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 119). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 12-July 16, 2003).

Year in Review: 1974. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 11-April 6, 1975).

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: Masterpieces from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 17, 1991-January 5, 1992).

Greeting the Spring (Chinese art rotation, galleries 240a, 239, 241c). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 11-August 13, 2017).

China's Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10, 2023-January 7, 2024).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=A Prunus in the Moonlight|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1974.26|author=Wang Mian|year=1300s|access-date=01 December 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Contact us

The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email [email protected].

To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.

You are here:

Images

A Prunus in the Moonlight

A Prunus in the Moonlight

月下梅花圖

Wang Mian 王冕

Location

Download and Share

Did you know?

Description

Inscription

Inscription Translation

Inscription

Contact us