The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 3, 2023

Yellow Chrysanthemums and Red Osmanthus in the Style of Wang Yuan

1468

Shen Zhou 沈周

(Chinese, 1427–1509)

China, Ming dynasty

(1368–1644)

Hanging scroll, ink on paper

Overall: 397.1 x 127.4 cm (156 5/16 x 50 3/16 in.); Painting only: 288.5 x 106.3 cm (113 9/16 x 41 7/8 in.)

Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1997.100

Location

not on view

Description

Shen Zhou, a native from Suzhou, was descended from a prominent land-owning family with strong ties to literati culture. Because Shen Zhou never entered government service, he had ample opportunity to cultivate the arts of painting, poetry, and calligraphy.

Chrysanthemums and red osmanthus both bloom in autumn. The deep orange osmanthus flowers emanate a characteristically sweet fragrance. According to his inscription on the painting, Shen Zhou sought to imitate the style of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) painter Wang Yuan. His color-filled brushstrokes and washes, however, anticipate the flower painting style of Yun Shouping, whose Peonies are also in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection, https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1967.192. The sheer size and complex composition of this scroll are impressive.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Artist's inscription, signature, and 2 seals at upper right: Beneath the fence yellow [chrysanthemum] flowers brave the rain to blossom;/ Still others lean on the red osmanthus tree and dazzle the deep green moss./ With a goblet [of wine] I face them, entirely without concern;/ Who will answer the knocking at the gate where a guest has arrived? In the ninth month of the fourth year of the Chenghua era [1468], I followed the brush-conception of Wang Danxuan 王澹軒 [Wang Yuan 王淵] at the Youzhuzhuang 有竹庄 [House with Bamboo]. Inscribed and [painted] by Shen Zhou 沈周 of Changzhou 長洲. [seals] Shitian 石田; Shen shi Qinan 沈氏启南. trans. HR

Inscription

1 additional inscription, dated 1523, and 2 seals of Wang Chong 王寵 (1494-1533).

Provenance
c. 1960s-1997
Mrs. A. Dean Perry [Helen Wade Greene Perry] [1911-1996], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1997-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Dubosc, Jean-Pierre, and Laurence Sickman. A Loan Exhibition, Great Chinese Painters of the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties, XV to XVIII Centuries: For the Benefit of the Asia Institute, March 11 to April 2, 1949. New York, NY: Wildenstein, 1949. cat. no. 6
Dubosc, Jean Pierre, and Alberto Giuganino. Mostra D'arte Cinese: Catalogo = Exhibition of Chinese Art: Catalogue. Venezia: Alfieri Editore, 1954. cat. no. 789
Sirén, Osvald. Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles. New York: Ronald Press, 1956. Mentioned and Reproduced: IV, 153; VI, pl. 170-B; VII, Lists, 223.
Edwards, Richard. The Field of Stones: A Study of the Art of Shen Chou (1427-1509). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1962. Reproduced: p. 15, pls. 9-C, 10-B
Lee, Sherman. “To See Big within Small: Hsiao-Chung-Chien-Ta.” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 114, no. 830, 1972, pp. 314–324. Reproduced: p. 321, fig. 64 www.jstor.org
Lee, Sherman E. “Early Ming Painting at the Imperial Court.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 62, no. 8, 1975, pp. 243–259. Reproduced: p. 254, fig. 15 www.jstor.org
Hironobu Kohara 古原宏伸, Richard Edwards, and Takeo Hibino 日比野丈夫. Shin Shū, Bun Chōmei [沈周 文徴明 = Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming]. Tōkyō: Chūō Kōronsha, 1978. Reproduced: pp. 149, 154, pl. 3
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: pp. 176-177, cat. no. 148
Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Mentioned: pp. 245-251; Reproduced: Fig. 1, p. 246
Exhibition history

Great Chinese painters of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties, XV to XVIII: [a loan exhibition] for the benefit of the Asia Institute. Wildenstein Galleries, New York, NY (March 11-April 2, 1949).

Mostra D'arte Cinese. Palazzo Ducale, Venice, Italy (1954).

Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 10-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982).

Inspired by Chinese Landscape and Art – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 14, 2017-February 5, 2018).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1997.100