Leaping Carp
Liu Jie (Chinese, c. 1447–1520s)
1368–1644
Medium
hanging scroll, ink and color on silk
Dimensions
226 × 101.2 cm · image: 140.5 × 83.7 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1977.55
Tags
male
About this artwork
With a fine ink line and graded wash, the life-like depiction of these swiftly moving carp is representative of the high quality of works by Liu Jie, a Ming dynasty court painter known for his fish paintings. The artist’s signature and seal are in the painting’s top left corner. The carp is an auspicious and popular subject in Chinese painting. Here, the leaping carp can be associated with “a carp jumping the dragon gate,” which according to mythology transforms into a dragon, emblematic of a sc...