Fisherman and family

Attributed to Zhang Lu Chinese
16th century
Not on view
Images of family life are relatively rare in premodern Chinese painting. This glimpse into the simple existence of a fisherman and his family aboard their small skiff was no doubt romanticized by the painter, whose style suggests a sophisticated artist working in the urban environs of Hangzhou rather than someone painting from observation along a countryside waterway. This painting presents the fisherman and his family as sincere and hardworking, their lives untouched by the vicissitudes of officialdom.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 明 傳張路 溪畔漁家圖 軸
  • Title: Fisherman and family
  • Artist: Attributed to Zhang Lu (Chinese, ca. 1490–ca. 1563)
  • Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
  • Date: 16th century
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
  • Dimensions: 43 3/8 x 31 7/8 in. (110.2 x 81.0 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1913
  • Object Number: 13.220.115
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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