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Portrait of the Poet Du Fu
Fu Baoshi Chinese
Not on view
This painting depicts the Tang poet Du Fu (712–770), the “Sage of Poetry,” in a forest of tall pines. The image is based on Du Fu’s poetic lines cited by the military commander and foreign minister Chen Yi (1901–1972) during his visit to the Du Fu Thatched Cottage (now a memorial museum) in Chengdu. The work was painted for the Thatched Cottage to commemorate Chen Yi’s visit. The lines read:
The new pines wish to grow a thousand feet.
The evil bamboo should be cut—all ten thousand stalks.
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