Bamboo, which bends without breaking, has long been a symbol of integrity and strength. It was also a favorite subject of Ming and Qing scholar-painters. Xia Chang, a native of the Suzhou region, enjoyed a successful official career that led to his appointment as minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices in 1457. He expanded Wang Fu's (1362–1416) style of bamboo painting to become the leading bamboo painter of his time, famous even in Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
Applying calligraphic techniques to painting according to the precepts established by Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322), Xia Chang executed his bamboo stalks in the archaic seal-script style and his bamboo twigs in the "grass," or cursive-script, style. Xia Chang's calligraphic mode of bamboo painting was followed by many later Ming and Qing painters.
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Artwork Details
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明 夏昶 清風高節圖 軸
Title:Windblown bamboo
Artist:Xia Chang (Chinese, 1388–1470)
Period:Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Date:ca. 1460
Culture:China
Medium:Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions:Image: 80 1/16 x 23 1/2 in. (203.4 x 59.7 cm) Overall with mounting: 118 x 29 3/8 in. (299.7 x 74.6 cm) Overall with knobs: 118 x 32 13/16 in. (299.7 x 83.3 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Edward Elliott Family Collection, Gift of Douglas Dillon, 1989
Accession Number:1989.235.1
Inscription: Artist’s inscription and signature (1 column in standard script)
[1] Translated by Edwin T. Morris in The Gardens of China: History, Art and Meanings, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1983, p. 169
Douglas Dillon American, New York (until 1989; donated to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The New Chinese Galleries: An Inaugural Installation," 1997.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Resonant Image: Tradition in Japanese Art (Part One)," 1997–98.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The World of Scholars' Rocks: Gardens, Studios, and Paintings," February 1–August 20, 2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Embodied Image: Chinese Calligraphy from the John B. Elliott Collection," September 15, 2000–January 7, 2001.
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. "The Douglas Dillon Legacy: Chinese Painting for the Metropolitan Museum," March 12–August 8, 2004.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Four Seasons," January 28–August 13, 2006.
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. "Arts of the Ming Dynasty: China's Age of Brilliance," January 23–September 13, 2009.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Chinese Gardens: Pavilions, Studios, Retreats," August 18, 2012–January 6, 2013.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Japanese Bamboo Art: The Abbey Collection," June 13, 2017–February 4, 2018.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Noble Virtues: Nature as Symbol in Chinese Art," September 10, 2022–January 29, 2023.
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. 126, cat. no. A17-006.
Morris, Edwin T. The Gardens of China: History, Art and Meanings. New York: Scribner, 1983, p. 169.
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