Title:
Landscape with Cranes
Creator/Contributor:
Ch'en Kuan (Chen Kuan)
Date:
1638
Identifier:
1997.28
Format:
Painting
Hanging scroll: ink and colors on silk
China
h 78 x w 38 -3/4 inches
Description:
t: Meng-hsien
h: Hsing-an
Inscription by the artist: "Cranes nesting in the pine trees everywhere, people visiting the wicker gate are few. On an auspicious
day in the first month of the mou-yin [1638] Ch'en Kuan painted this as a present for Mr. Ming-tai." Translation by Marsha
Smith Weidner.
Ch'en Kuan was a noted painter, calligrapher, and poet from Suchou in Chechiang province. Here Ch'en pays homage to the early
Ming master Wen Cheng-ming, using that artist's cool-warm coloration, tall stately pines, and well-defined layered mountains.
This landscape painting is actually a "birthday painting," or a work commissioned as a present for a friend. From the artist's
inscription it is clear that this painting was presented to a Mr. Ming-tai in this way.