China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644) / 1598–1652
Paintings after Ancient Masters
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Paintings after Ancient Masters as painting (China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644) · 1598–1652).
Chen Hongshou made this double album with twenty paintings for a friend, Lin Zhongqing.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this painting as Double album with twenty-two leaves; ink or ink and color on silk and credits Chen Hongshou (Chinese, 1598/99–1652).
The museum's collection notes: The twenty paintings in this double album by Chen Hongshou include landscapes, figures, and flowers. It also has one leaf featuring a woman, an often-used subject not found in the other albums from the latter part of his career. His late works are wonderful summations of Chen's peculiar and quirky art—archaistic, hyper-refined—but without accompanying shallowness or sentimentality. His figures and landscapes in the late albums are miniaturized, not unlike the small Chinese gardens, or the carefully selected small table rocks or old roots used for contemplation to see the world in miniature. This loss of scale is quite deliberate and reflects
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtPaintings after Ancient MastersOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.