Flowers of Four Seasons, with Poems

1531

Wang Guxiang

Wang Guxiang (Chinese, 1501–1568)

Chinese Art

Flowers of Four Seasons, with Poems, 1531. Wang Guxiang (Chinese, 1501–1568). Handscroll, ink and light color on silk; painting only: 24 x 545 cm (9 7/16 x 214 9/16 in.); overall: 24 x 547.5 cm (9 7/16 x 215 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1977.4

Original Source

Maker/Artist: Wang Guxiang
Classification: Painting
Formatted Medium: handscroll, ink and light color on silk
Medium: handscroll, ink, light, color, silk
Dimensions: Painting only: 24 x 545 cm (9 7/16 x 214 9/16 in.); Overall: 24 x 547.5 cm (9 7/16 x 215 9/16 in.)
Inscribed: Inscription: Artist's inscription, signature, and 15 sealrs. Ink Orchids. Sewn as pendants for the man of worth, swaying quiety, fragrance in the valley. [seal] Hsiao-chu ts'un Peony. Wiping his face, the young gentleman Ho [Ho Yen of Wei, Three Kingdoms] appears to have been powdered. His previous life was the perfume-stealing Han Shou [of Chin, 265-419], the fragrance still lingers. [seal] Ts'un-wu chai. Flowering Crab Apple, New Bamboo. Shao-lin [Tu Fu, 712-770] had to put down his brush. [Flowering Crab Apple]. Yü-k'o [Wen T'ung, d. 1079) in vain wrote poems about [Bamboo]. [seal] Yu-shih. Lotus Flowers. When she turns her head, half-hidden by a fan, and casts a glance, all the beautiful women become colorless. [seal] K'ang yüeh huai. Loquat. Ripeness in summer. [seal] Lu-chih. Pomegranate Flower. Whenever I remember you I will send my thoughts, but where have you gone--the [skirt] of pomegranate red? [seal] Wu-ho Sheng. Day Lily. Plant the day lily to forget sorrow. [seal] Yu-shih. Chrysanthemum. The untrammelled joy at the eastern fence. [seal] Lu-chih. Begonia. Comparing it to the beauties of Spring, and spreading them out as trimming for the stone steps. [seal] Yu-shih. Hibiscus. In recent years I have always enjoyed looking at flowers; instead of dark red I preferred pink ones. [seal] Jen-sheng i-lou. Narcissus, Camellia. The jade girdle left behind at Lo River. [Narcissus]. The precious pearls glitter before Spring. [Camellia]. [seal] Lu-chih. Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica). A single branch in the wintry season. [seal] K'ang yüeh huai. Plum. Fragrant snow in the Lo-fou Mountains. [seal] Ts'un-wu chai. In the eleventh lunar month of the hsin-mao year of the Chia-ching era [1531], [I] imitated the boneless style of Yüan masters in sketching from life. Ku-hsiang [seals] Yu-shih; Lu-chih. trans. WKH/LYSL 2 colophons and 23 additional seals: 1 colophon dated 1632, and 2 seals of Li Jih-hua (1565-1635); 1 colophon and 2 seals of Hsiang Sheng-mo (1597-1658); 3 seals of Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691); 6 seals of the Chia-ch'ing emperor (r. 1796-1820); 9 seals of Ch'eng Ch'i (20th c.)
Departments: Chinese Art
Accession Number: 1977.4
Credit Line: John L. Severance Fund
Exhibitions: Year in Review: 1977, Power and Possession: Chinese Calligraphy and Inscribed Objects – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c, <em>Urban Council and the Min Chiu Society, Ming and Ch'ing. </em>City Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong, (June 12-July 12, 1970)., <em>Main Asian Gallery Rotation (Gallery 122)</em>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 10-April 7, 2004).
Rights Statement: CC0