id: 147045 accession number: 1972.68 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.68 updated: 2023-08-23 22:25:21.422000 Solitary Colors of the Autumn Woods, first half 1600s. Wang Jianzhang (Chinese, active 1621–1662). Hanging scroll, ink and color on satin; image: 117.8 x 51.2 cm (46 3/8 x 20 3/16 in.); overall: 227 x 81.3 cm (89 3/8 x 32 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1972.68 title: Solitary Colors of the Autumn Woods title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: first half 1600s creation date earliest: 1628 creation date latest: 1644 current location: creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund copyright: --- culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644) technique: hanging scroll, ink and color on satin department: Chinese Art collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Wang Jianzhang (Chinese, active 1621–1662) - artist --- measurements: Image: 117.8 x 51.2 cm (46 3/8 x 20 3/16 in.); Overall: 227 x 81.3 cm (89 3/8 x 32 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Artist's inscription, signature, and 2 seals: Cold frost falls on the fences, Solitary colors scatter the maples. Reciting the chapter of "The Autumn Water," I cannot still the emotion in my old heart. After the style of Fan Hua-yüan [Fan Kuan], Wang Chien-chang [seals] Wang shih chih yin; Chien-chang. trans. LYSL/HK/WKH translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1972 opening date: 1973-02-27T05:00:00 Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973). title: Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 1998-02-21T00:00:00 Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998). title: Chinese Gallery 240a Rotation – August 2016 opening date: 2016-08-01T04:00:00 Chinese Gallery 240a Rotation – August 2016. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 1, 2016-February 6, 2017). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981: Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting, cat. no. 201, p. 258.
Nara National Museum, Japan (2/21-3/29/98); Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo (4/28-6/21/98) "Highlights of Asian Painting from The Cleveland Museum of Art" p.64, cat. no. 39. --- PROVENANCE Shogoro Yabumoto date: footnotes: citations: Shogoro Yabumoto date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: Two gentlemen stand outside a thatched hut in a dense forest; some trees have bare branches indicating that the season is early autumn. Wang Jianzhang’s inscribed poem refers to a chapter called “Autumn Water” from Zhuangzi, a famous Daoist text written in the 3rd century BC: "Cold frost falls on the fences, / Solitary colors scatter the maples. / Reciting the chapter of “The Autumn Water,” / I cannot still the emotion in my old heart." Wang Jianzhang lived through the collapse of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and the rise of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), when China was governed by the Manchus, an ethnic people from Manchuria who were traditionally viewed as “barbarians” by the Chinese. The poetic reference to Zhuangzi’s “Autumn Water” seems to discreetly convey Wang’s feelings about his country being taken over. “Autumn Water” was about learning to take steps in the foreign way, but not acquiring a foreign tongue. Perhaps Wang was lamenting his conflicted situation. For survival he had to adapt to the new political and social climate, while still trying to maintain his own identity and Chinese traditions. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.68/1972.68_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.68/1972.68_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.68/1972.68_full.tif