Untitled

Zhou Wenju

19th century · Handscroll; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

This sketch, made by a Japanese artist in the early twentieth century, preserves a more complete version of the fragmentary Chinese handscroll nearby. The Chinese original was painted using only ink and red color, but this scroll features a variety of pigments, along with brush-written notations for further coloration. This, coupled with the fact that the compositions are slightly different, suggests that the Japanese painter was looking at another version of the original. Nevertheless, it is an important resource for understanding what the earlier painting might have looked like before it was separated into multiple pieces.

Artist

Zhou Wenju

Date

19th century

Medium

Handscroll; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Fletcher Fund, 1942