On the bottom half of this sketch there is a tree, a house, and a body of water. To the left of this scene there are two red stamps. On the upper half of the sketch there is a mountain and surrounding trees, and to its right are four Chinese characters.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
On the bottom half of this sketch there is a tree, a house, and a body of water. To the left of this scene there are two red stamps. On the upper half of the sketch there is a mountain and surrounding trees, and to its right are four Chinese characters.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Gai Qi (Kai Ch'i) lived and worked in Songjiang county, near present-day Shanghai. Like most Chinese artists, he was known by a number of names. His zi was Bowen, and he had several hao, including Xiangbai, Qixiang, and Yuhu Waishi. His family name is neither common nor traditional in China, and was probably derived from a nomadic or tribal surname of the Hui, Central Asian Muslims. By the late-eighteenth to early-nineteenth century the Hui were culturally assimilated into the Chinese traditions, although they maintained their religious practices including worship in mosques. In the culturally rich area of Songjiang, in the lower Yangzi River delta region, Gai would have been raised as any other Chinese male from an upper class family. His painting is completely Chinese in character, with no unconventional elements or any sign of Muslim influence.
Born on the twelfth day of the third leap-month of the lunar calendar in 1774, Gai Qi apparently demonstrated his brilliance from an early age. He was adept at poetry as well as painting. Although he could paint landscapes, flowers, bamboo, and orchids, he was known for his figure paintings, including Buddhist images and shih-nü paintings portraying beautiful women. In early-nineteenth century China, painters of idealized female figures had lower status than landscape painters, but gai Qi's delicate and elegant execution earned him a higher than usual status.
Although his works are thought to resemble those of the eighteenth-century painter Hua Yen (Hua Yan, 1682–1756), Gai Qi's own inscriptions acknowledge two masters of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644): Tang Yin (1470–1523), whose female figure painting enjoyed legendary popularity among the Chinese, and Chen Hongshou (Ch'en Hung-shou, 1598-1652), known especially for his paintings of historical figures. At other times, Gai Qi claimed to follow the figure painting style of the Yuan dynasty (1260-1368). A professional painter throughout his life, Gai Qi catered to the taste of wealthy patrons in the Shanghai area. His best-known work is a set of fifty portraits of female characters from the famous novel Honglou meng, translated as "Dream of the Red Chamber."
Excerpted and adapted from "In Focus: Kai Ch'i," by Marshall Wu, Ph.D., published by The University of Michigan Museum of Art
A scholar sits in a relaxed posture at his desk looking at cut plum blossoms in a white vase; before him is an empty sheet of paper and ink stone, and by his side an attendant is boiling water for tea. A crane tucks her head and leg to keep herself warm in the cold winter air. The scholar seems to be contemplating a subject to be drawn or written, perhaps related to the flowers.
Subject Matter
A crane—an auspicious bird that denotes longevity—tucks her head and leg to keep herself warm in the cold winter air. Plum blossoms, like bamboo, were a favorite subject of literati artists (educated public servants who practiced painting and calligraphy), for their beauty and sweet fragrance. They were also a symbol of great moral integrity because they bloom in early spring when there is still snow.
The colophon is by Huang Chun and indicates that the painting was presented to the artist Chien Tu (1763-1844). There are a seals of the artist Gai Qi, Huang Chun, and three collectors.
Label Copy
In this charming picture a scholar sits in a relaxed posture at his desk looking at cut plum blossoms in a white vase; before him is an empty sheet of paper and ink stone, and by his side an attendant is boiling water for tea. A crane—an auspicious bird that denotes longevity—tucks her head and leg to keep herself warm in the cold winter air. The scholar seems to be contemplating a subject to be drawn or written, perhaps related to the flowers. Plum blossoms, like bamboo, were a favorite subject of literati artists (educated public servants who practiced painting and calligraphy), for their beauty and sweet fragrance. They were also a symbol of great moral integrity because they bloom in early spring when there is still snow.
The two album leaves shown here were originally mounted as folding fans; the creases are where the paper was pasted onto the wooden ribs.
Winter 2011 Gallery Rotation
Gai Qi
China, 1774–1829
Scholar’s Winter Retreat
Qing Period (1644–1912)
1820
Fan mounted as an album leaf, ink and color on paper
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker Art Collection Fund,
1981/2.133
In this charming picture a scholar sits in a relaxed posture at his desk looking at cut plum blossoms in a white vase; before him is an empty sheet of paper and ink stone, and by his side an attendant is boiling water for tea. A crane—an auspicious bird that denotes longevity—tucks her head and leg to keep herself warm in the cold winter air. The scholar seems to be contemplating a subject to be drawn or written, perhaps related to the flowers. Plum blossoms, like bamboo, were a favorite subject of literati artists (educated public servants who practiced painting and calligraphy), for their beauty and sweet fragrance. They were also a symbol of great moral integrity because they bloom in early spring when there is still snow.
The two album leaves shown here were originally mounted as folding fans; the creases are where the paper was pasted onto the wooden ribs.
Inscription
Signed: Kai Ch'i; Dated: keng-ch'en (1820), eighth month. With an inscription by Huang Ju indicating tht the painting was presented to the artist Ch'ien Tu (1763-1844). Seals: One of Kai Ch'i: Kai Ch'i. One of Huang Jun: (undecipherable). Three collectors' seals: Chang Shou-chieh yin, Yung-yü shu-chai, Kuei an lu hsin yüan shen-ting. Additional inscription: On the mounting, giving biographical information about the artists and with three seals on the mount, including Teng kang wu kang, Ch'ing Yao and one other.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Signed, upper left: Chien; Two artist's seals in the upper left; Inscription at the top left reads: Imitating (the style of) Pai Shih-wêng (White Stone Old Man) by Chien (Fang Pai Shih-wêng pi Chien);
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
While American audiences may be most familiar with print artists such as Hokusai and Hiroshige, the one artist known to all Japanese school children is Sesshû. Sesshû’s reputation as an artist of extraordinary abilities was well established by the end of his life and has remained undiminished in his homeland for five centuries.
Sesshû was born in a small town on Japan’s Inland Sea. He moved to Kyoto to become a Zen monk, where he encountered Shûbun, then the pre-eminent painter of ink landscapes in Japan. Sesshû’s early works drew on Shûbun’s manner, but his style changed dramatically after a three-year sojourn in Ming China in the 1460s. There he was able to study with court painters in Beijing as well as prominent literati artists and Zen monks. He gained access to collections of famous earlier paintings of the Song and Yuan periods (tenth to fourteenth centuries), and made detailed sketches of what he saw. Upon his return to Japan, he developed his own style, freely incorporating elements from both the paintings and the grand scenery he had encountered in China. His mature works are characterized by bold, exuberant brushwork.
This hanging scroll is one of a pair that was handed down in the collection of the Kuroda family, lords of a major domain in western Japan, near the area where Sesshû spent the last part of his life. (The companion scroll is also in the UMMA collection, 1970/2.150.) The signature and seal are regarded as dubious. Whether the painting is actually from Sesshû’s hand is a subject of debate, but recent scholarship argues that if not by Sesshû himself, it is at least from his circle and a good representative of his late style.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
