2017.303: Landscape

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2017.303

People

Hu Nianzu 胡念祖, Chinese (1927 - 2019)

Title

Landscape

Classification

Paintings

Work Type

painting, hanging scroll

Date

1984

Places

Creation Place: North America, United States, New York State

Culture

Chinese

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/319269

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, with artist’s inscription, signature, and seals

Dimensions

painting proper: 78.2 x 39.4 cm (30 13/16 x 15 1/2 in.)
full mounting: 181 x 60 cm (71 1/4 x 23 5/8 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• Signed: Lower right, black ink: A traveling native of Taojiang, Hu Nianzu (Chinese brush-written characters followed by two red seals reading "Hu" and "Nianzu")
• inscription: brush-written on right side of painting, translates as follows: 鑄晉吾兄方家法正 民國七十四年 值甲子早春寫於北美紐約森米山居 桃江遊子 胡念祖 "Asking my brother Chu-tsing, the expert, for his comment. Painted in Forest Hills, New York, North America, in the 74th year of the Republic, during the early spring of the jiazi year [1984]. A traveling native of Taojiang, Hu Nianzu"
• seal: three artist's seal: 1) Square red relief seal, following signature: "Hu"
  2) Square red intaglio seal, following first seal: "Nianzu"
  3) Square red intaglio informal seal, lower left corner: "Jia zhu Taohua jiang ban"

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Hu Nianzu, New York, 1984, gift; to Chu-tsing Li, Lawrence, Kansas (1984-2012), gift; to his son B U.K. Li, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2012-2017), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2017.

Footnotes:
1. Dr. Chu-tsing Li (1920-2014)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Chu-tsing Li Collection, Gift of B U.K. Li in memory of Chu-tsing Li, Yao-wen Kwang Li, and Teri Ho Li

Copyright

© Hu Nianzu 胡念祖

Accession Year

2017

Object Number

2017.303

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

A splash of ink holds the center of the painting, and details are filled in around it to create an abstracted yet representational landscape. The most detailed portion of the painting is the small group of buildings that appear as if by magic atop the splash. The surroundings—highly abstracted trees below and loosely defined peaks and a waterfall in the distance—heighten the suggestion of a small paradise, impossibly remote and elusive.
The artist inscribed the painting, “Asking my brother Chu-tsing, the expert, for his comment. Painted in Forest Hills, New York, North America, in the 74th year of the Republic, during the early spring of the jiazi year [1984]. A traveling native of Taojiang, Hu Nianzu.”
In 1948 Hu left mainland China—Taojiang in Hunan province was his family home—for Taiwan. There he studied with Huang Junbi (1898–1991) at National Taiwan Normal University. He spent many years in New York State before returning to Taiwan, where he resides today. This painting reflects the strong influence of Huang Junbi.

Publication History

• Robert D. Mowry and Claudia Brown, A Tradition Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Paintings from the Chu-tsing Li Collection, 1950-2000, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums/Yale University Press (Cambridge, Mass., 2007), cat. 33

Exhibition History

• A Tradition Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Paintings from the Chu-tsing Li Collection, 1950-2000, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 11/03/2007 - 01/27/2008; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, 06/28/2008 - 09/14/2008; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, 10/11/2008 - 01/04/2009; Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, 02/11/2009 - 05/24/2009

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