元 柯九思 臨文同墨竹圖 軸|Bamboo copied after Wen Tong

Ke Jiusi

dated 1343 · Hanging scroll; ink on silk · Asian Art

This dramatically cropped image of bamboo reveals neither the plant's base nor its tip; rather, the leaves and branches seem to defy gravity, giving the pendent bough a sense of dynamic movement and growth. The contrasting ink tones and thrusting brushstrokes that define the leaves add to the vitality of the image. Ke Jiusi, a leading connoisseur and curator of the imperial art collection, here demonstrates his scholarly approach to the study of antique models by freely copying a work by the Northern Song master Wen Tong (1019–1079), the patriarch of the monochrome bamboo genre.

Artist

Ke Jiusi

Date

dated 1343

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink on silk

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Ex coll.: C. C. Wang Family, Gift of Oscar L. Tang Family, 2006