Birds Gather under the Spring Willow

Description

This scroll depicts a spring scene with all kinds of birds, including one peacock with a hen among peonies. The painting is one of four surviving works by Yin Hong bearing his signature and seals. Some scholars debate whether this work depicts the theme “One Hundred Birds admiring the Phoenix,” a metaphor for human society presenting an idealized hierarchy under imperial rule; other scholars argue that peafowls, as exotic birds not native to China, would not be depicted to represent the emperor.

This large painting might have been hung in a palace hall and may have been part of a set depicting the four seasons.

Provenance

Marquis Yoshitaka Satake 侯爵 佐竹義理 [1858–1914] (?-November 1917); (Fugendo Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?-1974); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1974-)

Birds Gather under the Spring Willow

Yin Hong

late 1400s-early 1500

Accession Number

1974.31

Medium

hanging scroll, ink and color on silk

Dimensions

Painting: 240 x 195.5 cm (94 1/2 x 76 15/16 in.); Overall with knobs: 280 x 204 cm (110 1/4 x 80 5/16 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund