Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion

Unidentified artist
Formerly attributed to Li Gonglin Chinese

Not on view

This painting depicts the famous party held by Wang Xizhi at the Orchid Pavilion in 353 CE, when a group of scholars gathered to write poems and drink wine along the banks of a stream. Working within the intimate fan format, the artist could not spread out the stream as in a handscroll; instead, the men are clustered in the bottom half of the composition as the stream snakes around them. The host of the party sits in the pavilion at right, authoring the famous preface that would record the event for posterity.

Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion, Unidentified artist , 16th century, Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on silk, China

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Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion, Unidentified artist , 16th century, Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on silk, China
Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion, Unidentified artist , 16th century, Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on silk, China

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