Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Orchids, Bamboo, and Rocks
Shitao (Zhu Ruoji) Chinese
Wang Hui Chinese
Not on view
Shitao arrived in Beijing in 1690 to seek imperial patronage. He soon took Boerdu (1649–1708), great-grandson of the Qing founder Nuerhachi (1559–1626), as his disciple in painting. It was through Boerdu that Shitao contributed to this joint work with the preeminent painter Wang Hui, who left his inscription on the rock. Shitao’s tame representation of bamboo and orchids shows his respect for orthodox courtly taste. In his inscription, written in archaic clerical script, he composed a poem on bamboo and orchids, then added this postscript:
Mr. Wen [Boerdu] sent me some paper and asked me to paint
orchids and bamboo, adding that a master painter would complete
the painting with rock images. Therefore I left a blank area for
his magical final touch. Submitted for Mr. Wen’s instruction.
cat. no. 77
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