Artwork

Album of Landscape Paintings Illustrating Old Poems: A Scholar at a Table with a Servant aside Preparing the Ink

Album of Landscape Paintings Illustrating Old Poems: A Scholar at a Table with a Servant aside Preparing the Ink is an unspecified painting by the Chinese Orthodox School artist Hua Yan. It dates from 1745 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

About this work

History & Provenance

The album titled “A Scholar at a Table with a Servant aside Preparing the Ink,” which illustrates Old Poems, is held by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The painting was created by Hua Yan in 1745, as recorded in the work's cataloguing data. It was produced in China and is classified as a landscape painting. The work is presently held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is catalogued under accession number 1982.68.10.

The sources do not provide further details regarding an earlier ownership chain, a commissioning patron, or intermediate provenance prior to its acquisition by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The album titled “A Scholar at a Table with a Servant aside Preparing the Ink,” which illustrates Old Poems, is held by the Cleveland Museum of Art. Its accession number is 1982.68.10, as listed in the museum’s collection records. The work was produced in 1745 in China by the Qing‑dynasty painter Hua Yan, who worked primarily in the landscape genre.

It is classified as a painting within the museum’s holdings. Exhibition history is not mentioned in the available documentation, so no public display record can be provided based on the sources.

Overview

This painting, titled Album of Landscape Paintings Illustrating Old Poems: A Scholar at a Table with a Servant aside Preparing the Ink, was created by Hua Yan in 1745. It is a single leaf from a larger album and is housed in The Cleveland Museum of Art. The work presents an intimate interior scene, depicting two figures within a modest dwelling, framed by the stark branches of a tree visible through a window.

Subject & Meaning

The composition centers on a scholar seated at a table, holding a brush, while a servant stands nearby, preparing ink. This depiction suggests a moment of contemplation or creative preparation, typical of scholarly life in historical China. The simple room, furnished only with a table, chair, and window, emphasizes a focus on intellectual pursuits.

The artist's inclusion of his own Chinese poems alongside the image further integrates the visual and literary arts, reflecting the album's overarching theme of illustrating ancient verses.

Technique & Style

Hua Yan's approach in this painting combines figural representation with subtle landscape elements, suggested by the bare tree outside the window. The interior space is rendered with a sense of quiet simplicity, using minimal details to convey the setting. The integration of the artist's calligraphy directly onto the paper, alongside the painted image, is characteristic of Chinese album leaves, where poetry and painting often complement each other to enrich the viewer's experience.

Album of Landscape Paintings Illustrating Old Poems: Scholar under a Pine Tree, Hua Yan

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Artist & collection

Artist

Hua Yan

Hua Yan simplified Chinese: 华嵒; traditional Chinese: 華嵒; pinyin: Huà Yán; Wade–Giles: Hua Yen; courtesy name Qiu Yue (秋岳), sobriquets Xinluo Shanren (新罗山人), Dong Yuan Sheng (东园生), Buyi Sheng (布衣生), Ligou Jushi (离垢居士)and…