Cockatoo
Born into a gentry family in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, Chen Shu was one of the few women in premodern China to earn a reputation as a painter. Most of Chen's extant works are landscape paintings in the literati manner, but she also created flower and bird images such as this one, which follows the more meticulous descriptive style practiced by Song and Ming dynasty court artists. In 1721 Chen's son, Qian Chenqun (1686–1774), earned his jinshi (presented scholar) degree and received an appointment to the Hanlin Academy in the capital. He subsequently brought his mother, already a widow for three years, to Beijing, where this work was painted.
Artwork Details
- 清 陳書 白鸚鵡圖 軸
- Title: Cockatoo
- Artist: Chen Shu (Chinese, 1660–1736)
- Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Date: dated 1721
- Culture: China
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: 37 1/16 x 17 3/16 in. (94.1 x 43.7 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1913
- Object Number: 13.220.31
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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