清　金農　墨梅圖　軸|Blossoming plum

Jin Nong

dated 1759 · Hanging scroll; ink on paper · Asian Art

A poet, collector, and bibliophile, Jin Nong did not take up painting until the age of fifty. Known as one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, Jin specialized in painting plum blossoms. He developed a distinctive style of calligraphy through the study of the squat clerical-script form of ancient stele writing. Blossoming Prunus was painted for a high official only five years before Jin's death at age seventy-two. In his inscription, Jin speaks of the good fortune of the plum painters Yang Buzhi (1097–1169) and Ding Yetang (active mid-13th century), whose works gained imperial recognition. Jin then adds, jestingly: "Now I, too, have done a likeness of latticed branches and scattered shadows. How might it also enter the Nine Enclosures [of the Forbidden City] and be submitted to imperial view?"

Artist

Jin Nong

Date

dated 1759

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink on paper

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988