A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this painting as handscroll; ink and slight color on paper and credits Tao Cheng (Chinese, active c. 1471–after 1502).
The museum's collection notes: On an autumn day in Beijing, Tao Cheng had a gathering with a group of scholar-officials and created two paintings in a spontaneous, casual style. The first depicts chrysanthemums, slender bamboo stalks, and a rock in monochrome ink. Tao applied light colors for the second painting that depicts cabbage. Tao deliberately placed the images on the first sections of the paper so that his honorable guests could add their poetic inscriptions inspired by his imagery. In the first section to the right, all seven poetic inscriptions refer to the beloved poet and recluse Tao Qian (also called Tao Yuanming, AD 365–427) who was particularly known for his