Children Studying

20th century

Not on view

Feng Zikai's intellectual development was fostered under the tutelage of the influential Buddhist scholar and painter Li Shutong (Hongyi). Later Feng studied in Japan, learning Western drawing and music. when he returned to China he answered the call for an art responsive to the needs of a broadly defined national culture, not with politically rhetorical pictures but with moving, humane depictions of common people in real situations, using a style based on woodblock illustration.

In what might be called a "20th century painting of scholars", he depicts a group of children studying, thereby stating simply the prevailing hopes for education and literacy. In his inscription, he notes a universal truth:

Homework is done better
In the fresh air.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

References

近代豐子愷兒童讀書圖軸
Title: Children Studying
Artist: Feng Zikai (Chinese, 1898–1975)
Date: 20th century
Culture: China
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Dimensions: 19 5/8 x 13 7/8 in. (49.8 x 35.2 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in memory of La Ferne Hatfield Ellsworth, 1986
Object Number: 1986.267.323
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Feng Zikai

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Reading by the Window near a Pine Tree, Feng Zikai Chinese, Framed hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, China — Reading by the Window near a Pine Tree
Feng Zikai
undated

Frame Drum, Wood, hide, Chinese (Uighyur) — Frame Drum
Chinese (Uighyur)
late 20th Century

Woods and Valleys of Mount Yu, Ni Zan Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, China — Woods and Valleys of Mount Yu
Ni Zan
dated 1372

Travelling Amid Streams and Mountains, Feng Zikai Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, China — Travelling Amid Streams and Mountains
Feng Zikai
20th century

Archer's Ring (清扳指), Bone, Chinese — Archer's Ring (清扳指)
Chinese
17th–19th century

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