Fish
1400
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1400
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Fish is a 1400 unspecified by Unknown, a Ming Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
Four fish glide through water plants, their scales catching light. The word for fish in Chinese sounds like "abundance," so these swimmers stand for good luck. The artist left out outlines—a method called "boneless" painting—to make the fish look soft and alive. Dark backs fade to pale bellies without sharp edges. To see how other Ming artists built space without lines, look up *subject: china, ming dynasty (1368–1644)*.
Four fish of various sizes are swimming among aquatic plants. Like in other paintings, the existence of water is suggested in the harmonious movement of the fish and plants. In Chinese, the word for fish ( yu ) is a homophone for “abundance” and thus the motif has an auspicious connotation. The painter uses the so-called boneless technique without outlines to shade and texture the bodies of the fish. The smooth transition from dark shades on their backs to their white bellies and the thin transparent fins and tails in light washes accentuated by gills and scales are all executed without…
Read the full account in the museum source.
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