Paintings after Ancient Masters: Calligraphy
1625
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
1625
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Paintings after Ancient Masters: Calligraphy is a 1625 unspecified by Chen Hongshou, a Chinese Orthodox School work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This album shows tiny, precise paintings on silk. One leaf features a woman sitting alone under a tree, dressed in ancient robes. Chen Hongshou copied old masters but gave his figures a sharp, almost modern edge. His lines are thin and controlled, like fine handwriting. The colors stay soft and faded, so the focus stays on the shapes and stories. It feels like a quiet conversation with the past. His work reminds me of another artist who played with old styles. Look up Chen Hongshou (Chinese, 1598/99–1652) to see more.
The twenty paintings in this double album by Chen Hongshou include landscapes, figures, and flowers. It also has one leaf featuring a woman, an often-used subject not found in the other albums from the latter part of his career. His late works are wonderful summations of Chen's peculiar and quirky art—archaistic, hyper-refined—but without accompanying shallowness or sentimentality. His figures and landscapes in the late albums are miniaturized, not unlike the small Chinese gardens, or the carefully selected small table rocks or old roots used for contemplation to see the world in miniature.…
Read the full account in the museum source.
