Squirrel on a Pine Branch
Medium
hanging scroll, ink on paper
Dimensions
119.7 × 66.4 cm · painting only: 27.7 × 51.7 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift from the Collection of George Gund III
Accession Number
2015.498
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
This painting captures a squirrel in action, distracted and twisting its head while climbing and looking at a little bug to the right. The painter skillfully employs a combination of ink washes and fine brushstrokes to simulate the animal’s fur. Only three simple curved lines depict the squirrel’s claws. The subject of squirrels did not appear in Chinese painting before the late Southern Song (1127–1279) and Yuan periods (1279–1368). The painter Songtian was one of the few Yuan painters who spec...