Collection Online as of May 30, 2023

A Pair of Peafowl

孔雀竹石圖

late 1400s-early 1500s

Lin Liang 林良

(Chinese, 1416–1480)

China, Ming dynasty

(1368–1644)

Hanging scroll, ink on silk

Painting: 160 x 106 cm (63 x 41 3/4 in.); Overall with knobs: 256.5 x 133.3 cm (101 x 52 1/2 in.)

Severance and Greta Millikin Collection 1964.242

Location

not on view

Description

The peacock, identified by the flamboyant tail, is paired with a female peahen to its right. In lowering her head, the hen seems to show respect to the male peacock.

With his articulate brushstrokes and strong contrasting tones, Lin Liang’s representation in black ink appears as vivid as Yin Hong’s colorful peacock (1974.31). The painter skillfully uses wet and dry ink as well as broad and thin washes to represent the plumage of the bird. The surface of the rocks, depicted in powerful sweeping strokes, recalls the landscape painting style of the Zhe School, which specialized in expressive brushwork.

Inscriptions

Inscription

林良. [印] 以善圖書

Inscription Translation

Artist's signature and seal: Lin Liang. [seal] Yi shan tu shu

Provenance

Gao Jianfu 高劍父 [1878–1951]

(Walter Hochstadter [1914-2007], Hong Kong, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Millikin)

?-1964

Severance A. [1895-1985] and Greta Millikin [1903-1989], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art

1964-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Jiao yu bu di er ci quan guo mei shu zhan lan hui zhuan ji [敎育部第二次全國美術展覽會專集 = A special collection of the second National Exhibition of Chinese Art under the auspices of the Ministry of Education]. [Nanjing?]: Shang wu yin shu guan, 1937. no. 114

Sirén, Osvald. Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles. New York: Ronald Press, 1956. Mentioned: VII, Lists, 210

Goepper, Roger. 1000 Jahre chinesische Malerei. München: Haus der Kunst, 1959. Reproduced: pp. 78-79, fig. 44

Goepper, Roger. Chinesische Malerei: die jüngere Tradition. Bern: Hallwag, 1960. Reproduced: pp. 44-45

Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1964. Reproduced: pp. 425-426, fig. 568

Lee, Sherman Emery, and James Robinson. The Colors of Ink: Chinese Paintings and Related Ceramics from the Cleveland Museum of Art. New York: Asia Society; distributed by New York Graphic Society, 1974. Reproduced: fig. 1

Cahill, James. Parting at the Shore: Chinese Painting of the Early and Middle Ming Dynasty, 1368-1580. New York: Weatherhill, 1978. Mentioned: p. 55

Catalogue of the Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1990. Mentioned; cat. no. 150, p. 87; Reproduced: pl. 27

Chen, Pao-chen 陳葆真. "A Study of Lin Liang and His Paintings," National Palace Museum Bulletin 故宮通訊, vol. XXVII, no. 4 (September-October 1992). Reproduced: p. 15, pl. 4

Barnhart, Richard M., Mary Ann Rogers, and Richard Stanley-Baker. Painters of the Great Ming: The Imperial Court and the Zhe School. Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1993. Reproduced: cat. no. 53, p. 201

Sung, Hou-Mei. “The Three Yin Masters of the Ming Court: Yin Shan, Yin Xie and Yin Hong.” Artibus Asiae, vol. 58, no. 1/2, 1998, pp. 91–113. Reproduced: fig. 11, p. 104 www.jstor.org

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. 229-232

Exhibition history

The Colors of Ink. Asia House Gallery, New York, NY (January 10-March 3,1974).

Imperial Paintings of the Ming Dynasty: The Zhe School. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (February 14-April 11, 1993).

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 242). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (August 28, 2014-January 7, 2015).

1000 Jahre Chinesische Malerei. Haus der Kunst, Munich, Mùnich, Germany (organizer) (October 16-December 13, 1959).

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).

The Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 5-September 2, 1990).

Flora and Fauna (Chinese art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 6, 2020-June 6, 2021).