1788
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Su Dongpo is a 1788 unspecified by Min Zhen, a Chinese Orthodox School work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a man in a loose robe, sitting under a pine tree with a scroll in his lap. This is Su Dongpo, a famous Chinese poet from the 11th century. Min Zhen painted him nearly 700 years later, giving the poet a quiet, thoughtful look. The artist used soft ink washes to create depth without sharp lines—almost like the figure is emerging from the paper. To see more works like this, look up china, qing dynasty (1644-1911).
Min Zhen, who was orphaned at age 12 and developed an eccentric personality, was trained by Tang Yin (1682–1756), a writer, playwright, and superintendent of the imperial porcelain workshops in Jingdezhen. The connection to him may have enabled Min to stay in Beijing for a decade from around 1773. It is not clear whether he ever resided in Yangzhou, but his style is in many instances reminiscent of that of Yangzhou artist Huang Shen. This album demonstrates Min’s versatility and mature style in the last years of his life.
Su Dongpo 蘇東坡 (1037–1101) is the likely model, but the gentleman is holding an incense burner instead of an ink stone more commonly associated with the famed poet.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Min Zhen was a Chinese painter and seal carver born in Nanchang, Jiangxi, who spent most of his life in Hubei.
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