Album leaf, c. 1875
Qian Hui'anexpand_more
Ink and color on paperexpand_more
The Friends of Bruce Dayton Art Acquisition Fundexpand_more 2013.13.3
Not on Viewexpand_more
The focus of the painting is the man with a young boy standing next to a peach tree, apparently on a fishing expedition, since the man holds a fishing basket behind him and the boy carries a fishing rod. The elements typically seen in paintings of the traditional Peach Blossom Spring theme—peach trees in bloom, a fisherman—are all present in Qian Hui’an’s painting, but he has recombined them to suggest a quite different and more down-to-earth narrative of leisure, in which a man takes his son fishing. Formally, the composition has a typically late nineteenth-century flatness which comes, in part, from the fact that the composition is boldly divided in two on the diagonal, with all the action taking place in one triangular half. Also contributing to the effect is the way that the fishing rod repeats the line of the cliff, bringing foreground and middle ground together. Finally, the twin peach trees echo the two figures, introducing another element of repetition, again pulling the eye laterally across the picture’s surface.
Details
- Title
- Album leaf
- Artist Life
- 1833 - 1911
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2013.13.3
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
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