Deng Yu, a leading late Yuan literary Daoist, joined the Orthodox Unity sect of Daoism at the age of twelve. By 1360 he had become the abbot of a Daoist temple in Wenzhou, near the Zhejiang coast, and in 1371 he accompanied the 42nd Celestial Master to the Ming capital, where he repeatedly performed miracles of rainmaking.
Bamboo and Rock, executed according to the precepts of the early Yuan scholar-artist Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322), demonstrates Deng's familiarity with the literati aesthetic of calligraphic painting. The bamboo leaves are done in clerical script; the stalks, in seal script; and the rocks, drawn in mixed ink tones, simulate the "flying-white" style of calligraphy. A poem inscribed by Liu Renben, the governor-general of Wenzhou under the rebel leader Fang Guozhen, establishes the date of Deng's painting:
After fog and rain, in Jiangnan, Few friends of integrity remain. As autumn fills the shores of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, Clouds paint the bamboo a deep green.
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元 鄧宇 竹石圖 軸
Title:Bamboo and rock
Artist:Deng Yu (Chinese, ca. 1300–after 1378)
Period:Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
Date:ca. 1360–67
Culture:China
Medium:Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions:Image: 53 3/16 x 16 5/8 in. (135.1 x 42.2 cm) Overall with mounting: 104 1/4 x 23 7/8 in. (264.8 x 60.6 cm) Overall with knobs: 104 1/4 x 27 1/8 in. (264.8 x 68.9 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:From the P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Family Collection, Gift of Oscar L. Tang, 1991
Object Number:1991.438.1
Inscription: Artist’s inscription and signature (2 columns in semi-cursive script)
[Deng] Zifang painted this for Chuxian.
子方為處閑寫。
Artist's seals
Deng Zifang 鄧子方 Huhai weiguan 湖海偉觀
Other inscriptions on the painting[1]
1. Lian Dewang 連德望 (14th c.), 3 columns in clerical script, undated; 3 seals:
Lush verdant jades tilt left and right, Moist from the spring clouds and morning haze. Gazing toward the faraway Xiang River, they think of the nymphs Crossing the water to the south amid green banners in a mist. Lian Wuyun [Lian Desheng] from Tiantai (in Zhejiang Province)
2. Liu Renben 劉仁本 (died 1367), 4 columns in standard script, undated; 2 seals:
After fog and rain, in Jiangnan Few friends of integrity remain. As autumn fills the shores of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, Clouds paint the bamboo a deep green. Yuting
Standing with a delicate grace, she hovers over the green…, Overwhelmed by a chill from the wind and dew. In bright moonlight, she feels like a dream companion; Deep in the night a mouth-organ is playing…. Meng Zhiying
Oscar L. Tang , New York (until 1991; donated to MMA)
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Chinese Art Under the Mongols," October 1, 1968–November 4, 1968.
New York. Asia House Gallery. "Chinese Art Under the Mongols," January 9, 1969–February 2, 1969.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Text and Image: The Interaction of Painting, Poetry, and Calligraphy," January 23–August 16, 1999.
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. "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. "Great Waves: Chinese Themes in the Arts of Korea and Japan I," March 1–September 21, 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. "Bridging East and West: The Chinese Diaspora and Lin Yutang," September 15, 2007–February 10, 2008.
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. "Chinese Gardens: Pavilions, Studios, Retreats," August 18, 2012–January 6, 2013.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from the Metropolitan Collection (Rotation Two)," May 7–October 11, 2016.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Up Close," January 25, 2020–June 27, 2021.
Cahill, James. An Index of Early Chinese Painters and Paintings: T'ang, Sung, and Yüan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980.
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, p. 163, cat. no. A18-025.
Fong, Wen C. Beyond Representation: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 8th–14th Century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992, pp. 470–72, pl. 112.
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. 145, pl. 87.
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