Wu Zhen lived the life of a recluse. He was never very famous or successful during his lifetime, but in the Ming period he came to be designated one of the Four Great Masters of the late Yuan dynasty and his style was favored by many Ming painters, most notably Shen Zhou (1427–1509). Wu was fond of doing "ink-plays," and his drawing shows a cartoonlike simplicity and directness. Accompanying the hermit-fisherman, a symbol of the late Yuan unemployed scholar, Wu Zhen's poetic colophon reads:
Red leaves west of the village reflect evening rays, Yellow reeds on a sandy bank cast early moon shadows. Lightly stirring his oar, Thinking of returning home, He puts aside his fishing pole, and will catch no more.
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元 吳鎮 蘆灘釣艇圖 卷
Title:Fisherman
Artist:Wu Zhen (Chinese, 1280–1354)
Period:Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
Date:ca. 1350
Culture:China
Medium:Handscroll; ink on paper
Dimensions:Image: 12 1/4 × 21 3/16 in. (31.1 × 53.8 cm) Overall with mounting: 13 1/4 in. × 11 ft. 4 1/2 in. (33.7 × 346.7 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988
Accession Number:1989.363.33
Inscription: Artist’s inscription and signature (4 columns in cursive script)
Red leaves west of the village reflect evening rays, Yellow reeds on a sandy bank cast early moon shadows. Lightly stirring his oar, thinking of returning home, He puts aside his fishing pole, and will catch no more.[1]
紅葉村西夕影餘，黃蘆灘畔月痕初。 輕撥棹，且歸歟，挂起漁竿不釣魚。 梅老戲墨
Artist’s seals
Yimei 一梅 Meihua An 梅花
Label strip
Unidentified artist, 1 column in standard script, undated:
Fisherman by Wu Zhen.
吳鎮 《蘆灘釣艇》
Collectors’ seals
Geng Zhaozhong 耿昭忠 (1640–1687) Dancheng 丹誠 Zhenshang 真賞 Yi er zisun 宜爾子孫 Zhenmi 珍祕
Zhang Daqian 張大千 (1899–1983) Bieshi rongyi 別時容易 Cang zhi Daqian 藏之大千 Qiu tu bao gurou qing 球圖寶骨肉情 Dafeng Tang zhencang yin 大風堂珍藏印 Di guo zhi fu 敵國之富 Nan bei dong xi zhiyou xiangsui wu bieli 南北東西只有相隨無別離
Gu Luofu 顧洛阜 (John M. Crawford, Jr., 1913–1988) Gu Luofu 顧洛阜 Hanguang Ge 漢光閣
Unidentified Li Yuanyong 李元用
[1] Wen C. Fong, Beyond Representation: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy 8th–14th Century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992, p. 450.
Howard C. Hollis, Inc. , Cleveland, OH, by 1959; John M. Crawford Jr. American, New York (until d. 1988; bequeathed to MMA)
London. Victoria and Albert Museum. "Chinese Painting and Calligraphy from the Collection of John M. Crawford, Jr.," June 17, 1965–August 1, 1965.
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New York. Asia House Gallery. "Chinese Art Under the Mongols," January 9, 1969–February 2, 1969.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The New Chinese Galleries: An Inaugural Installation," 1997.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The World of Scholars' Rocks: Gardens, Studios, and Paintings," February 1–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. "Chinese Painting, Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection," August 28, 2004–February 20, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Four Seasons," January 28–August 13, 2006.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Anatomy of a Masterpiece: How to Read Chinese Paintings," March 1–August 10, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Landscapes Clear and Radiant: The Art of Wang Hui (1632–1717)," September 9, 2008–January 4, 2009.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Yuan Revolution: Art and Dynastic Change," August 21, 2010–January 9, 2011.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from The Met Collection (Rotation One)," October 31, 2015–October 11, 2016.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Up Close," January 25, 2020–June 27, 2021.
Guo Wei 郭威, ed. Dafeng Tang mingji 大風堂名蹟 (Masterpieces from the collection of the Dafeng Tang Studio) [Taipei?]: Yayun Tang, 1954, vol. 1, pl. 13.
Chō Dai-sen 張大千. Taifudo meiseki 大風堂名蹟 (Masterpieces from the collection of the Dafeng Tang Studio) Kyoto: Benrido, 1955–56, vol. 1, pl. 13.
Goepper, Roger, and Tseng Yu-ho. 1000 Jahre Chinesische Malerei (1000 Years of Chinese Painting). Exh. cat. Zurich: Kunsthaus Zürich, 1960, p. 251, cat. no. 30a.
Weng, Wan-go, and Thomas Lawton. Chinese Painting and Calligraphy: A Pictorial Survey: 69 Fine Examples from the John Crawford, Jr. Collection. New York: Dover Publications, 1978, pp. 50–51, cat. no. 24.
Suzuki Kei 鈴木敬, ed. Chûgoku kaiga sogo zuroku: Daiikan, Amerika-Kanada Hen 中國繪畫總合圖錄: 第一卷 アメリカ - カナダ 編 (Comprehensive illustrated catalog of Chinese paintings: vol. 1 American and Canadian collections) Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1982, pp. 102–3, cat. no. A15-034.
Shih Shou-ch'ien, Maxwell K. Hearn, and Alfreda Murck. The John M. Crawford, Jr., Collection of Chinese Calligraphy and Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Checklist. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1984, pp. 23–24, 42, cat. no. 41.
Fong, Wen C. Beyond Representation: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 8th–14th Century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992, pp. 452–53, pl. 103.
Bian Yongyu 卞永譽. Shigu Tang shuhua huigao 式古堂書畫彚考 (Studies of calligraphy and painting of the Shigu Tang Studio). Preface dated 1682, juan 11. Reprinted in Zhongguo shuhua quanshu 中國書畫全書 (Compendium of classical publications on Chinese painting and calligraphy) Edited by Lu Fusheng 盧輔聖. Shanghai: Shanghai shuhua chubanshe, 1993–2000, vol. 6, p. 842.
Gu Fu 顧復. Pingsheng zhuangguan 平生壯觀 (Magnificent things seen in my life). Preface dated 1692, juan 9. Reprinted in Zhongguo shuhua quanshu 中國書畫全書 (Compendium of classical publications on Chinese painting and calligraphy) Edited by Lu Fusheng 盧輔聖. vol. 4, Shanghai: Shanghai shuhua chubanshe, 1993–2000, vol. 4, p. 993.
Wang Keyu 汪砢玉. Wang shi shanhu wang minghua tiba 汪氏珊瑚網名畫題跋 (Inscriptions on famous paintings from the Coral Net). Preface dated 1643. Juan 20. Reprinted in Zhongguo shuhua quanshu 中國書畫全書 (Compendium of classical publications on Chinese painting and calligraphy) Edited by Lu Fusheng 盧輔聖. Shanghai: Shanghai shuhua chubanshe, 1993–2000, vol. 5, p. 1211.
Yang Zhenguo 杨振国. Haiwai cang Zhongguo lidai ming hua: Liao, Jin, Xixia, Yuan 海外藏中国历代名画: 辽, 金, 西夏, 元 (Famous paintings of successive periods in overseas collections) Edited by Lin Shuzhong 林树中. vol. 4, Changsha: Hunan meishu chubanshe, 1998, p. 13.
Hearn, Maxwell K. How to Read Chinese Paintings. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008, pp. 94–97, cat. no. 21.
He Muwen 何慕文 (Hearn, Maxwell K.). Ruhe du Zhongguo hua: Daduhui Yishu Bowuguan cang Zhongguo shuhua jingpin daolan 如何读中国画 : 大都会艺术博物馆藏中国书画精品导览 (How to read Chinese paintings) Translated by Shi Jing 石静. Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2015, pp. 94–97, cat. no. 21.
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