清石濤 (朱若極) 花石圖軸
Hibiscus, Lotus, and Rock

Artist:: Shitao (Zhu Ruoji) (Chinese, 1642–1707)

Period:: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)

Date:: ca. 1705–7

Culture:: China

Medium:: Hanging scroll; ink on paper

Dimensions:: Image: 45 9/16 x 22 in. (115.7 x 55.9 cm) Overall with mounting: 88 x 28 1/2 in. (223.5 x 72.4 cm) Overall with knobs: 88 x 31 3/4 in. (223.5 x 80.6 cm)

Classification:: Paintings

Credit Line:: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David M. Levitt, by exchange, 1978

Accession Number:: 1978.254

Not on view

Recalling a beautiful woman in their blushing colors and delicate shapes, the blossoms of the lotus and hibiscus epitomize the exuberance and fullness of youth. Seeming to mock himself for continuing to admire such lush summer flowers, the aging Shitao inscribed the lines by the renowned Song dynasty poet Su Shi (1036–1101): “As I grow older, I have stopped having lush dreams, Even one hibiscus tree by the pond is too much for me.”

Suffering from the infirmities of old age, Shitao, in the last years of his life, frequently painted in a broad impressionistic style with rich wet ink. As he wistfully suggests in his inscription, painting in such an obviously sensuous manner was perhaps not entirely appropriate for one of his age.

Inscription: Artist’s inscription and signature (4 columns in semi-cursive script)

坡公云：“老來不作繁華夢，一樹池邊已覺多。”遣興寫此，紙不大佳，阻我筆趣，有似呵凍，恐未入識者云。濟大滌堂中。

Artist’s seals

破研齋
眼中之人吾老矣

Collectors’ seals

Sun Pu 孫璞（1884–1947）
仲瑛審定書畫
顧齋藏

Wang Jiqian 王季遷（C. C. Wang, 1907–2003）
王季遷海外所見名跡

Ann Arbor. University of Michigan Museum of Art. "The Painting of Daoji ca. 1641–1720," August 13, 1967–September 17, 1967.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Peach Blossom Spring," November 21, 1983–June 3, 1984.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Traditional Scholarly Values at the End of the Qing Dynasty: The Collection of Weng Tonghe (1830–1904)," June 30, 1998–January 3, 1999.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The World of Scholars' Rocks: Gardens, Studios, and Paintings," February 1, 2000–August 20, 2000.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Millennium of Chinese Painting: Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection," September 8, 2001–January 13, 2002.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cultivated Landscapes: Reflections of Nature in Chinese Painting with Selections from the Collection of Marie-Hélène and Guy Weill," September 10, 2002–February 9, 2003.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Dreams of Yellow Mountain: Landscapes of Survival in Seventeenth-Century China," September 13, 2003–February 22, 2004.

Essays
Chinese Calligraphy
Chinese Handscrolls
The Qing Dynasty (1644–1911): Loyalists and Individualists
The Qing Dynasty (1644–1911): Painting
The Qing Dynasty (1644–1911): The Courtiers, Officials, and Professional Artists

Timelines
Central and North Asia, 1600–1800 A.D.
China, 1600–1800 A.D.