Lotus
This artist, traditionally educated and trained, eschews the bright palette of the 19th and 20th centuries and returns to the soft washes and light pigments of Yun Shouping (1633–90). Wu's poem likens the lotus flower to the concubine of the Tang Emperor Minghuang (r. 713–56). The emperor, distracted by her beauty invited an insurrection that cost him his life. Wu's poem reads:
The water-mirror breaks and the night dew is heavy.
The red-clothed [beauty] is confined to the pond.
Her glancing moth-like eyebrows can move a country.
Have you ever seen Yang Gueifei warmed by wine?
[Trans. Ellsworth et al, Later Chinese Painting]
The water-mirror breaks and the night dew is heavy.
The red-clothed [beauty] is confined to the pond.
Her glancing moth-like eyebrows can move a country.
Have you ever seen Yang Gueifei warmed by wine?
[Trans. Ellsworth et al, Later Chinese Painting]
Artwork Details
- 現代 吳湖帆 荷花圖 軸
- Title: Lotus
- Artist: Wu Hufan (Chinese, 1894–1968)
- Date: dated 1943
- Culture: China
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on alum paper
- Dimensions: 31 3/8 x 12 3/4 in. (79.7 x 32.4 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in memory of La Ferne Hatfield Ellsworth, 1986
- Object Number: 1986.267.304
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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