清 任薰 海棠小鳥 扇面|Bird on a Rock by a Flowering Branch
dated 1879
Medium
Folding fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on alum paper
Dimensions
7 x 20 7/8 in. (17.8 x 53.0 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
China · Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in memory of La Ferne Hatfield Ellsworth, 1986
Accession Number
1986.267.46
Tags
About this artwork
This delicate fan painting depicts a tiny bird perched on one foot on an ornamental garden rock, bending its head to meet its uplifted foot, with a flowering branch nearby, created by Ren Xun in autumn 1879 while in Suzhou. The composition draws upon the highly representational style of the Southern Song Imperial Painting Academy, merging exquisite drawing in fine contour lines with meticulously graded colored washes. The painting reflects Ren's keen observation of nature, capturing the bird's p...
Art Historical Context
This delicate fan painting by Ren Xun captures a tiny bird perched gracefully on an ornamental garden rock, its head bent toward an uplifted foot beside a flowering branch. Created in autumn 1879 while the artist was in Suzhou, the work draws from the meticulous, representational style of the Southern Song Imperial Painting Academy. Ren employs fine contour lines and layered color washes to convey the bird’s alert posture and the soft blossoms with remarkable precision and sensitivity. Ren Xun (c. 1835–1893) belonged to a prominent family of painters and was counted among the “Four Rens of Sh...
About the Artist
Ren Xun · 1835–1893
Chinese, 1835–1893