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Poet Li Bai

Fu Baoshi Chinese

dated 1963

Not on view

Seated in a garden with blossoming plums, the poet Li Bai (701–762) gets drunk to set his soul free, and yet his gaze expresses deep emotion, as if seeing all life’s affairs unfolding. Painted two days before the artist’s sixtieth birthday, this is, according to the artist’s inscription, the most satisfactory of all of Fu’s portrayals of Li Bai. In a modest tone, Fu wonders if it has captured a tiny bit of the poet’s spirit.

Poet Li Bai, Fu Baoshi (Chinese, 1904–1965), Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, China — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Poet Li Bai

Artist: Fu Baoshi (Chinese, 1904–1965)

Date: dated 1963

Culture: China

Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper

Dimensions: Image: 54 1/16 x 27 1/16 in. (137.3 x 68.7 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Lent by Nanjing Museum

Accession Number: SL.8.2012.2.72

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Asian Art at The Met

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.