Zhao Wenchu (born Wen Shu) was a fourth-generation descendant of the Suzhou luminary Wen Zhengming. Like most members of the family—men and women—she received a first-rate classical education. Many women painters of the Ming dynasty focused on floral themes; for some, this may have been a preference, but others were likely guided toward this genre because of the association of women with gardens and blossoms. A lack of refinement in the brushwork of this example suggests that it may be by one of the many later painters who produced works in Zhao’s style.
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Artwork Details
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明 佚名 仿趙文俶 萱石圖 軸
Title:Rock, Tiger Lily and Orchid
Artist:Unidentified artist
Artist: After Zhao Wenchu (Chinese, 1595–1654)
Period:Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Date:dated 1627
Culture:China
Medium:Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Dimensions:Image: 49 13/16 x 20 3/16 in. (126.5 x 51.3 cm) Overall: 98 1/2 x 26 1/2 in. (250.2 x 67.3 cm) Overall with knobs: 98 1/2 x 30 in. (250.2 x 76.2 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988
Accession Number:1989.363.125
Inscription: Artist’s inscription and signature (1 column in standard script) Wenchu of the Zhao family of Tianshui [in Gansu Province] painted this in the summer of the dingmao year (1627). 丁卯夏日天水趙氏文俶寫。
Wang Lüben汪律本 (1867–1930) Lüben changshou 律本長壽 Xin’an Wang Jiuyou shangxin zhenji 新安汪舊游賞心真跡
Gu Luofu顧洛阜 (John M. Crawford, Jr., 1913–1988) Hanguang Ge Zhu Gu Luofu jiancang Zhongguo gudai shuhua zhi zhang 漢光閣主顧洛阜鑒藏中國古代書畫之章
John M. Crawford Jr. American, New York (until d. 1988; bequeathed to MMA)
Indianapolis Museum of Art. "Views from Jade Terrace: Chinese Women Artists, 1300–1912," September 3, 1988–November 6, 1988.
Richmond. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. "Views from Jade Terrace: Chinese Women Artists, 1300–1912," December 5, 1988–January 15, 1989.
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. "Views from Jade Terrace: Chinese Women Artists, 1300–1912," February 13, 1989–April 2, 1989.
Washington DC. National Museum of Women in the Arts. "Views from Jade Terrace: Chinese Women Artists, 1300–1912," April 24, 1989–June 4, 1989.
Hong Kong Museum of Art. "Views from Jade Terrace: Chinese Women Artists, 1300–1912," June 29, 1989–August 27, 1989.
New York. China House Gallery. "Views from Jade Terrace: Chinese Women Artists, 1300–1912," October 5, 1989–December 2, 1989.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Companions in Solitude: Reclusion and Communion in Chinese Art," July 31, 2021–August 14, 2022.
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. 96, cat. no. A15-007.
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, p. 40, cat. no. 133.
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