2018.358: Finger Painting of Lotus

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2018.358

People

Zhang Lichen 張立辰, Chinese (born 1939)

Title

Finger Painting of Lotus

Classification

Paintings

Work Type

painting, hanging scroll

Date

undated

Places

Creation Place: East Asia, China

Culture

Chinese

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/319281

Physical Descriptions

Medium

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

Dimensions

painting proper: 68 x 42.6 cm (26 3/4 x 16 3/4 in.)
full mounting: 182.5 x 57.7 cm (71 7/8 x 22 11/16 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• Signed: Upper left, black ink: Finger painting by "the fisherman" (Chinese brush-written characters followed by a red seal reading "Zhang")
• inscription: inscribed with ink and brush, upper left corner of painting: 鑄晉教授雅正 漁人 指墨 "[I humbly] Ask Professor Chu-tsing Li for your gracious comments. Finger painting by 'the Fisherman'."
• seal: three artist's seals: 1) Square red relief seal, near signature: 張 "Zhang"
  2) Square red intaglio seal, following the first seal: 立辰之印 "Lichen zhi yin"
  3) Round red relief seal, lower right corner: 古沛人也 "Gupei ren ye"

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Artist Zhang Lichen (after 1973), gift; to Chu-tsing Li, Lawrence, Kansas (by 2007-2012), gift; to his son B U.K. Li, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2012-2018), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2018.

Footnotes:
1. Dr. Chu-tsing Li (1920-2014)
2. On loan to Harvard Art Museums from 2008 to acquisition

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

Accession Year

2018

Object Number

2018.358

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description

The watery black splotches, diluted ink dots, and combination of wet and dry lines that make up this composition provide only a subtle suggestion of the artist’s intended subject. The broad forms at upper right appear to be lotus leaves, but the other elements escape immediate recognition. A notation following the artist’s signature identifies the work as a finger painting. Practitioners of the technique often claim that it offers a more direct means of self-expression. The Chinese
tradition of applying ink to paper with the fingers or fingernails instead of a brush is said to date back as far as the Tang dynasty (618–907), demonstrating that innovative techniques in Chinese painting are not strictly modern.
Zhang Lichen, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, is known for his elegant and vigorous flower and bamboo paintings. In this work he achieves an expressive, abstract quality. The impression of movement and the absence of color evoke the aesthetic of calligraphy.

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. 45

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

Verification Level