id: 161286 accession number: 1999.6 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1999.6 updated: 2023-03-20 14:14:22.592000 Pipa (Loquats), c. 1888–89. Xugu (Chinese, 1823–1896). Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper; painting: 112.6 x 52.2 cm (44 5/16 x 20 9/16 in.); overall (no knobs): 231 x 70.5 cm (90 15/16 x 27 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1999.6 title: Pipa (Loquats) title in original language: 枇杷圖 series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1888–89 creation date earliest: 1888 creation date latest: 1889 current location: creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: China, Yangzhou, Qing dynasty (1644-1911) technique: hanging scroll, ink and color on paper department: Chinese Art collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Xugu (Chinese, 1823–1896) - artist --- measurements: Painting: 112.6 x 52.2 cm (44 5/16 x 20 9/16 in.); Overall (no knobs): 231 x 70.5 cm (90 15/16 x 27 3/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: 友山仁兄大人屬即教之,虛谷. [印]虛谷書畫 translation: remark: inscription: 未接虛公一經書2,夜臺畫興近何如。/ 聾丞今日狂談藝,更有誰人能起予。 雨亭以友山所貽虛谷和上畫屬,题於泰山殘石樓中,戊戌三日二十日,高邕并記。 translation: remark: inscription: 虚谷上人,余未見其人。觀高聾題大氏,亦海上高流也。其畫下筆如風,隨意涂抹,皆成逸趣。此幀畫枇杷纍纍如缀金,坐其下若咽洞庭五月涼也! 雨亭君所藏,今以貽頌周先生。清道人題。 translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Power and Possession: Chinese Calligraphy and Inscribed Objects – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c opening date: 2018-08-13T04:00:00 Power and Possession: Chinese Calligraphy and Inscribed Objects – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 13, 2018-February 3, 2019). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 119). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 16-July 13, 2004). --- PROVENANCE Youshan 友山 [late 19th century], given to Yuting date: c. 1888-89–? footnotes: citations: Yuting 雨亭 [late 19th century] date: footnotes: citations: Zhang Songzhou 張頌周 [b. 1873], by descent to Zhang Bihan date: footnotes: citations: Zhang Bihan (Chang Pi-han) 張碧寒 [1909–1995], Piedmont, CA date: ?–1995 footnotes: citations: (Kaikodo America, Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: ?–1999 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1999– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Xugu was a military commander and then a Buddhist priest before becoming a major figure in Shanghai's art scene. digital description: wall description: The loquat is a plant native to China that produces a juicy, yellow fruit in early summer. The artist may have intentionally extended the branches beyond the paper to emphasize their abundance of fruit. Xugu inscribed his painting on the right, dedicating the work to a certain Mr. Youshan. Two additional inscriptions by other writers were added later, each time the painting changed owners.

Xugu gave up his career as a military official during the Taiping rebellion (1850–64) and became an itinerant monk who painted for a living. He spent the later years of his life in Shanghai and his fame as an artist is associated with that city. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS "In the Company of Spirits." Kaikodo Journal, XI (Spring 1999): pp. 128-29, 272-273. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 30 url: Chung, Anita. "The Life, Art, and Travels of Xugu (1823-1896)." Kaikodo Journal, XI (Spring 1999): pp. 44-51. page number: url: Cleveland Museum of Art, “Major Benin Bronze Plaque, Rembrandt Print, Other Works of Art Enter CMA Collection,” March 12, 1999, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. page number: url: https://archive.org/details/cmapr4240 Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 470-472 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.6/1999.6_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.6/1999.6_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.6/1999.6_full.tif