Add to Collection

Add this item to an existing or new collection.
Harvard Art Museums
Incorrect Username, Email, or Password
No Image

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2024.109
People
Chen Haiyan 陳海燕 ( Fushun, Liaoning province, China born 1955)
Title
Five Goldfish
Other Titles
Original Language Title: 五条金鱼
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1986
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/383967

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Woodblock print; ink on pi zhi bast paper
Dimensions
image: H. 19 × W. 13 cm (7 1/2 × 5 1/8 in.)
paper: H. 33 × W. 23 cm (13 × 9 1/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • signature: in pencil: 10/30 梦1986年2月26日 五条金鱼 陈海燕1986 [10/30 Dream: February 26, 1986, Five Goldfish; Chen Haiyan 1986]
  • inscription: printed: 我坐在一小块麻袋上，
    用一大块麻袋在河中捕鱼。
    一条黑鱼也没捕到，
    结果上来五条大金鱼，
    我给放了，
    这鱼不能吃。

    梦 一九八六二二十九


    DREAM: FEBRUARY 29, 1986
    I am sitting on a little piece of
    gunnysack, using a big burlap
    cloth to catch fish in the river.
    There is a black fish that I can't
    seem to catch. Instead, I ended
    up catching five big goldfish.
    I let them go.
    You can't eat those fish.

    [Translation: Britta Erickson]

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Chen Haiyan, Hangzhou (1986-2024), sold [through Ink Studio, Beijing, China]; to Harvard Art Museums, 2024.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Edition
10/30

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Johanna and Leslie Garfield Fund in Honor of Professor Roderick MacFarquhar
Accession Year
2024
Object Number
2024.109
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 coarsely cut woodblock print in black ink is enclosed within vertically oriented rectangle. The print depicts a figure holding a big sack by the river. There are two goldfish in the water. Chinese characters occupy upper right half of the print.

Publication History

  • Britta Erickson, Abby Chen, and Amjad Majid, Chen Haiyan: Carving the Unconscious (Seattle, 2016), pl. 10

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu