A scion of a branch of the Ming imperial family, Bada Shanren became a "crazy" Buddhist monk, feigning deafness in order to escape persecution after the Ming dynasty fell to Manchu conquest in 1644. Like his cousin Shitao (Zhu Ruoji), he became an extraordinary painter, known for an expessionist calligraphic style.
In these album-size landscapes, Bada has adopted traditional themes and compositions as points of departure for his own creative improvisations. In several leaves, the sparse composition, dry brushwork, and carefully selected motifs—bare trees and an empty pavilion—allude to the late Yuan hermit-artist Ni Zan (1306–1374). Elsewhere, diagonally receding mountain masses made of simplified ovoid and cone-shaped rock forms derive from the landscape style of Dong Qichang (1555–1636). In each case, however, Bada transmuted his models, playing with spatially ambiguous patterns or adding human figures or color when least expected.
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Xu Wenpo 徐雯波 (Mrs. Zhang Daqian, b. ca. 1927) 徐氏小印
Ding Nianxian 丁念先 （1906–1969） 先審定 念先審定
Gu Luofu 顧洛阜 (John M. Crawford, Jr., 1913–1988) 顧洛阜 漢光閣
Unidentified 偶園 清玩草堂 瑞仙鑑賞書畫之印 鴻嬪掌記
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.
Providence. Bell Gallery, List Art Center. "The Individualists: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy of the 17th Century from the Collection of John M. Crawford, Jr.," April 26, 1980–May 18, 1980.
Princeton University. "Loan to Princeton University 2," March 1985–May 1985.
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. "The Work of Zhu Da," August 22, 1990–October 28, 1990.
New Haven. Yale University Art Gallery. "The Work of Zhu Da," January 18, 1991–March 24, 1991.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The New Chinese Galleries: An Inaugural Installation," 1997.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "When the Manchus Ruled China: Painting under the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911)," February 2–August 18, 2002.
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. "Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from the Metropolitan Collection (Rotation Two)," May 7–October 11, 2016.
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. 106, cat. no. A15-044.
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. 43–44, cat. no. 147.
Weihe, Richard. Meer der Tusche: Erzählung mit zehn Bildern (Sea of Ink: Narrative with Ten Images) Zurich: Nagel & Kimche, 2003, pp. 77, 93.
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