Greeting the Spring

Description

This masterfully composed landscape in light colors and delicate brushwork is an image of the water-rich Jiangnan region in southeast China, where Wu Bin was active as an artist. Embedded in rolling hills along lakesides and streams nestle cityscapes hosting numerous spring festivities. Lantern displays and street performances in the villages salute the New Year, and are interwoven with scenes of farming, fishing, and silk making. In one scene in the middle ground, an ox made of clay under a canopy is lead in a procession to an architectural compound, a ceremony known as whipping the spring ox in hope for a good harvest. This handscroll bears five collector seals by the Qianlong emperor indicating his appreciation for the painting.

Provenance

Qing imperial collection (seals of Emperors Qianlong, r. 1736–1795; Jiaqing, r. 1796–1820; and Xuanzong, r. 1821–1850), Beijing, China; (Walter Hochstadter [1914–2007], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?-1959); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1959-)

Greeting the Spring

Wu Bin

1600

Accession Number

1959.45

Medium

handscroll; ink and light color on paper

Dimensions

Image: 34.3 x 252.8 cm (13 1/2 x 99 1/2 in.); Overall: 35 x 1022.2 cm (13 3/4 x 402 7/16 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund