Artwork
清 李方膺 墨梅圖 冊|Album of Blossoming Plum
清 李方膺 墨梅圖 冊|Album of Blossoming Plum is an ink painting by the Baroque artist Li Fangying. It dates from 1742 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 2017.327.6a–h
- Credit line
- Gift of Marie-Hélène and Guy Weill, 2015
About this work
You see a single branch of a plum tree, its dark twigs curling against white paper.
The ink is so light in places it looks like breath on glass. Li Fangying painted this in 1742, when scholars used plum blossoms to show quiet strength, tiny flowers blooming in winter. The branch isn’t perfect; one twig bends awkwardly, as if the tree grew that way.
If you like this, look up the subject flowers.
Subject & Meaning
The work belongs to the landscape tradition while focusing on a flowering subject, treating the plum as the central motif across its eight leaves.
The album presents the blossoming plum (meihua) rendered in monochrome ink on paper, a classical subject in Chinese painting long associated with resilience, purity, and the arrival of spring. Plum blossoms traditionally symbolize perseverance because the tree flowers in late winter, often through snow, and have been used by literati painters as a vehicle for expressing moral character and personal integrity. Li Fangying's choice of ink alone, without color, reinforces this austere, scholarly character, allowing the irregular, gnarled branches and sparse blossoms to convey the contemplative mood typical of the genre.
The work belongs to the landscape tradition while focusing on a flowering subject, treating the plum as the central motif across its eight leaves. Held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the album continues the long Chinese convention of pairing plum imagery with ideals of steadfastness and refined self-cultivation.
Technique & Style
Created in 1742, the Album of Blossoming Plum consists of eight individual paintings executed in ink on paper. The work is classified within the landscape genre, though it specifically depicts flowers, focusing on the motif of plum blossoms. Each sheet measures 24.8 cm in height by 31.8 cm in width.
The artist employed traditional ink techniques on a paper support to render the floral subjects, a format characteristic of Chinese album painting from the Qing dynasty.
History & Provenance
The Album of Blossoming Plum by Li Fangying was created in 1742. This work consists of an album of eight ink-on-paper paintings depicting flowers, specifically blossoming plums. The piece is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
While the specific circumstances of its commission or the detailed chain of ownership prior to its museum acquisition are not detailed in the available records, the work is firmly dated to the year 1742 and originates from China.
The Album of Blossoming Plum by Li Fangying is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as recorded in its collection records. The Wikidata entry for the work confirms its location at the museum and lists its dimensions as 24.8 cm in height by 31.8 cm in width.
No specific accession number is provided in the available sources, and no exhibition history is documented for the album in the materials supplied.
Context
Li Fangying, a Qing dynasty painter active in the eighteenth century, created an album of eight ink paintings on paper titled Album of Blossoming Plum in 1742. The work depicts flowers and is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection in New York, where it remains on display. Scholars consider this album a representative example of Qing painting's engagement with traditional Chinese subjects, particularly in its refined treatment of floral motifs within the landscape genre.
Its composition and technique reflect broader artistic trends of the period, situating it within the evolution of Chinese visual culture during the Qing era.
Overview
The work is an eight‑panel album of ink paintings by the Qing‑period artist Li Fangying, executed in 1742. Each sheet is rendered in monochrome ink on paper, and the album’s central image presents a solitary plum branch against a stark white background. The composition is modest in scale, yet the delicate handling of line and wash conveys a nuanced atmosphere.
Artist & collection
