Old Pine Tree

Description

Here the natural appearance of a gnarled and vine-entangled pine has been transformed into a rhythmic abstraction of brushstrokes and ink tonalities, with unifying opposites—opening and closing, rising and falling—that provide the design across the horizontal scroll. The artist's inscription reads: "The force of change beyond restraint; / The dragon's whiskers are likened to a forest of spears."

Provenance

Qian Shisheng 錢士昇 [1575–1652]; Qing imperial collection (seals of Emperors Qianlong, r. 1736–1795; Jiaqing, r. 1796–1820; and Xuanzong, r. 1909–11) (at least by 1736–c. 1911); (Jean-Pierre Dubosc [1904–1988], Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?–1964); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1964–)

Old Pine Tree

Wen Zhengming

late 1530s

Accession Number

1964.43

Medium

handscroll; ink on paper

Dimensions

Painting: 28 x 139.3 cm (11 x 54 13/16 in.); Overall: 29.3 x 596.9 cm (11 9/16 x 235 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund