2021.622: Pine Grove

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2021.622

People

Hu Nianzu 胡念祖, Chinese (1927 - 2019)

Title

Pine Grove

Other Titles

Original Language Title: 松林圖

Classification

Paintings

Work Type

hanging scroll, painting

Date

1982

Places

Creation Place: North America, United States, New York State

Culture

Chinese

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/319268

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper

Dimensions

painting proper: H. 62.8 × W. 94.8 cm (24 3/4 × 37 5/16 in.)
overall mounting: H. 173.8 × W. 102 cm (68 7/16 × 40 3/16 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription:
  
  
  頂天立地 蔽日遮風 眾林之首 萬木之雄
  歲在壬戌 早春寫 松林圖 即為 鑄晉吾兄方家指正
  桃江散人胡念祖於美國紐約
  
  Crowning the heavens and anchoring the earth, hiding the sun and blocking the wind, [the pine] is the leader in the crowded woods and most powerful among the myriad trees. Painted in the early spring of the renxu year [1982]. Pine Grove. Asking my elder brother Chu-tsing, the expert, for his comment.
  
  Hu Nianzu, an émigré from Taojiang, in New York, United States
• seal: of artist; following signature; square, intaglio: 胡念祖記 [Hu Nianzu ji]
• seal: lower right; square, relief: 家住桃華江畔 Jia zhu Taohua jiang pan [Home by the Taohua River]

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Hu Nianzu, New York (1982), acquired; by Chu-tsing Li, Lawrence, Kansas (1982-2012), gift; to his son B U.K. Li, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2012-2021), gift; to Harvard Art Museums 2021.

Note:
Dr. Chu-tsing Li (1920-2014)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Chu-tsing Li Collection, Gift of B U.K. Li in memory of Chu-tsing Li, Yao-wen Kwang Li, and Teri Ho Li

Copyright

© Hu Nianzu 胡念祖

Accession Year

2021

Object Number

2021.622

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

The hanging scroll frames a horizontally oriented color painting that features a cluster of pine trees standing before a small thatched hut. The highly textured trees are rendered with a combination of dry brush and layers of dabs of color. A flock of birds composed of two short lines each flies in the distance. There is a 14-line Chinese inscription in the upper left corner, and two square red seals with Chinese characters are located to the left of the inscription and in the lower right corner of the painting.

Publication History

• Robert D. Mowry and Claudia Brown, A Tradition Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Paintings from the Chu-tsing Li Collection, 1950-2000, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums/Yale University Press (Cambridge, Mass., 2007), cat. 32

Exhibition History

• A Tradition Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Paintings from the Chu-tsing Li Collection, 1950-2000, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, 06/28/2008 - 09/14/2008; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, 10/11/2008 - 01/04/2009; Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, 02/11/2009 - 05/24/2009

Verification Level