2010.548: Night (Ye), Written in Section Script

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2010.548

People

Fung Ming Chip (Feng Mingqiu) 馮明秋, Chinese (born 1951)

Title

Night (Ye), Written in Section Script

Other Titles

Original Language Title: 夜

Classification

Paintings

Work Type

album leaf, painting

Date

2009

Places

Creation Place: East Asia, China, Hong Kong

Culture

Chinese

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/336543

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Album leaf; ink on paper; with three seals of the artist. Written in section script.

Dimensions

calligraphy proper: 27.2 x 57.5 cm (10 11/16 x 22 5/8 in.)
mounting: 50 x 70.1 cm (19 11/16 x 27 5/8 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• seal: Left: Square, red, relief seal (of the artist and carved by the artist): 明秋"Ming Chip" (Ming Qiu) [Artist's given name]
• seal: Center: Square, red, pictorial seal (of the artist and carved by the artist): 雲"Yun" (Clouds)
  
• seal: Right: Square, red, intaglio seal (of the artist and carved by the artist): 見之吉利"Jian Zhi Ji Li" ("Seeing this brings good fortune")

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Fung Ming Chip, Hong Kong (2009-2010), sold; to Susan L. Beningson, New York, 2010, gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2010.

NOTE:
This work was created by Fung Ming Chip in Hong Kong in 2009.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Susan L. Beningson and Steve Arons in memory of Renée Beningson

Accession Year

2010

Object Number

2010.548

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

This large, horizontally oriented, rectangular album leaf is inscribed with nine columns of text, the columns with varying numbers of characters and thus of various lengths. The text is a forty-two-character poem composed and inscribed on this album leaf by Fung Ming Chip (standard Mandarin transcription: Feng Mingqiu). The artist has stated to the curator that the work's title is Night ("Ye"). The character "Ye" appears in the fourth column from the left; in fact, it is the only character in that column of text. The characters are written in cursive, or running, script ("xingshu") in a manner that the artist characterizes as "section script." This calligraphic work is not dated; however, the artist stated to the curator that he created it in 2009. This calligraphic work is not signed, but it includes three seals of the artist, which identify it as a work of Fung Ming Chip. The three seals, which the artist himself carved, and their locations can be described as follows:

Left: Square, red, relief seal reading "Ming Chip" (Ming Qiu) [Artist's given name]
Center: Square, red, pictorial seal reading "Yun" (Clouds)
Right: Square, red, intaglio seal reading "Jian Zhi Ji Li" (Seeing this brings good fortune)

The poem can be translated as follows:

Freezing quiet streets
Whipping away,
Occasional passing cars.
Heartless street lights,
Faint north winds
Revive the underground dancer with a kiss.
Night
Deeply sunk within emptiness,
Happiness is actually
The color turquoise.

Verification Level