An ambitious scholar, Wang Mian was determined to fulfill his responsibilities as a man of talent despite the frustrations and dangers of life under Mongol rule. He studied philosophy, military tactics and politics. He wrote poems and government treatises, drew up battle plans and painted unforgettable images of the flowering plum that became the principal model for plum painters of Ming and Qing times.
In this painting, Wang Main brought into balance the expressive and representational elements of his subject, for in depicting silken blossoms and rough branches, he employed both the delicately descriptive techniques of his academic predecessors and the bold calligraphic brushwork of his literati contemporaries.
The flowering plum (Prunus mume, or Japanese apricot) became an object of intense enthusiasm during the Southern Song dynasty and has remained one of China's favorite motifs. Blooming before all other trees, it was welcomed as the harbinger of spring. By Wang Mian's time, under the impact of the barbarian Mongol rule, the image of the flowering plum blossoming in the withered winter landscape, had become a powerful symbol of purity and endurance in adversity.
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painting
with mounting, rollers and knobs
inscription on painting
colophon at bottom
colophon at top
Artwork Details
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元 王冕 墨梅圖 軸
Title:Fragrant Snow at Broken Bridge
Artist:Wang Mian (Chinese, 1287–1359)
Period:Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
Date:14th century
Culture:China
Medium:Hanging scroll; ink on silk
Dimensions:Image: 44 1/2 x 19 3/4 in. (113 x 50.2 cm) Overall with colophons: 68 x 19 3/4 in. (172.7 x 50.2 cm) Overall with mounting: 106 1/8 x 25 1/4 in. (269.6 x 64.1 cm) Overall with knobs: 106 1/8 x 29 1/2 in. (269.6 x 74.9 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Ex coll.: C. C. Wang Family, Purchase, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, by exchange, 1973
Accession Number:1973.121.9
Inscription: Artist’s inscription and signature (4 columns in semi-cursive script)
A wintry plum tree with branches like white jade, A warm breeze scatters the flowers with snowflakes. The Hermit of the Lonely Hill [Lin Bu, 967–1028] has remained true to himself; Now who carries the sound of reedpipe music across the broken bridge?[1] Yuanzhang [Wang Mian]
The plum paintings by the Stone-cooking Mountain Peasant [Wang Mian] are in no way inferior to those by Yang Wujiu [Yang Buzhi, 1097–1169]. His brushwork is free with an ancient flair, powerful yet eccentric, which was unique of his time. One can envision his lofty spirit and wild manners while wielding a wooden sword in a tall, brimmed hat and a pair of thick-soled wooden clogs. Unfortunately he was not prolific; very few of his works have survived. I have only seen a long handscroll by him at the Lanyun Ge Studio. In the fifth lunar month of the second year of the Longqing reign era [1568], Daoxing [Gu Dadian]. [Seals]: Dadian, Hengyu
The Stone-cooking Mountain Peasant had an unusual spirit. His plum paintings are therefore dark and subdued with archaic ruggedness. This scroll has an extra flair of nonchalant elegance. It has achieved the full range of what one can do with plum painting. May Mr. Yong treasure it in his collection. Inscribed by Zhang Fengshi on an autumn day in the bingwu year (1966). [Seal]: Zhang Fengshi yin
[1] Translation from Wen C. Fong, Sung and Yuan Paintings, with catalogue by Marilyn Fu. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1973, p. 132.
[ C. C. Wang Family , New York, until 1973; sold to MMA]
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Chinese Art Under the Mongols," October 1, 1968–November 4, 1968.
New York. Asia House Gallery. "Chinese Art Under the Mongols," January 9, 1969–February 2, 1969.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Song and Yuan Paintings: Exhibition of Newly Acquired Chinese Paintings," November 1, 1973–January 20, 1974.
London. British Museum. "Song and Yuan Paintings," November 7, 1975–January 4, 1976.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Text and Image: The Interaction of Painting, Poetry, and Calligraphy," January 23–August 16, 1999.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Artist as Collector: Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from the C.C.Wang Family Collection," September 2, 1999–January 9, 2000.
New York. China Institute in America. "The Chinese Painter as Poet," September 14, 2000–December 10, 2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cultivated Landscapes: Reflections of Nature in Chinese Painting with Selections from the Collection of Marie-Hélène and Guy Weill," September 10, 2002–February 9, 2003.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Great Waves: Chinese Themes in the Arts of Korea and Japan I," March 1–September 21, 2003.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art of the Brush: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy," March 12–August 14, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Brush and Ink: The Chinese Art of Writing," September 2, 2006–January 21, 2007.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Yuan Revolution: Art and Dynastic Change," August 21, 2010–January 9, 2011.
Shanghai Museum. "Masterpieces of Chinese Tang, Song and Yuan Paintings from America," November 3, 2012–January 3, 2013.
London. Victoria and Albert Museum. "Masterpieces of Chinese Painting 700–1900," October 26, 2013–January 19, 2014.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from The Met Collection (Rotation One)," October 31, 2015–October 11, 2016.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Companions in Solitude: Reclusion and Communion in Chinese Art," July 31, 2021–August 14, 2022.
Fong, Wen C., and Marilyn Fu. Sung and Yuan Paintings. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1973, pp. 131–33, 135, 151 (ill. p. 135), cat. no. 25.
Suzuki Kei 鈴木敬, ed. Chûgoku kaiga sogo zuroku: Daiikan, Amerika-Kanada Hen 中國繪畫總合圖錄: 第一卷 アメリカ - カナダ 編 (Comprehensive illustrated catalog of Chinese paintings: vol. 1 American and Canadian collections) Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1982, p. 3, cat. no. A1-004.
Barnhart, Richard M. Along the Border of Heaven: Sung and Yüan Paintings from the C. C. Wang Family Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983, pp. 142–44, fig. 65.
Fong, Wen C. Beyond Representation: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 8th–14th Century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992, pp. 392–96, pls. 87, 87a.
Bickford, Maggie. Ink Plum: The Making of a Chinese Scholar-Painting Genre. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 209–12, pl. 32, fig. 51D.
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