明 文徵明 太湖群嶼圖 扇面|View of Lake Tai

Wen Zhengming

dated 1543 · Folding fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on gold-flecked paper · Asian Art

Wen Zhengming painted this dreamy vision of Lake Tai, China's "Great Lake," for a friend after their springtime boat ride together. Wen's poem reads: Islands spread out in a mirror, Like purple hibiscus immersed in a watery silver platter. Who can hold thirty-thousand jing [the supposed size of Lake Tai] in his bosom? I long to visit the seventy peaks [of Lake Tai] for myself. Heaven is vast, billows roll on, days turn into months. In the spring cold the water country hides fish and dragons; Sitting in the middle of the lake I seemed to hear roosters [crow] and dogs bark. Where should I find the retired statesman Fan Li?

Artist

Wen Zhengming

Date

dated 1543

Medium

Folding fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on gold-flecked paper

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase, The Dillon Fund Gift, 1982