Artist:Fu Baoshi
Medium: Unmounted hanging scroll, ink and light color on paper
Geograhical Locations:
Dates:dated January, 1945
Dimensions: Exclusive of cloth borders: 53 7/8 x 15 3/4 in. (136.8 x 40 cm)
Collections:
Accession Number: 78.44
Image: 78.44_PS9.jpg,
Catalogue Description: A large tree rises from the lower right corner, the wet washes indicating its branches and leaves filling the upper half of the picture. An old scholar rolls a scroll on a stone table beneath the tree at left; his brush pot, brush, and inkstone are on the table before him. At the right, further back, another scholar walks toward the left followed by a boy attendant carrying a white crane in his arms. Date, signature and sale upper left. Two other seals at lower right. Condition: minor buckling of backing. 2nd Catalogue Card: The exchange of Geese for Wang Hsi-Chi's calligraphy. The larger figure in the upper right, the subject of this painting is Wang Hsi-Chi (321-379) who was considered the sage of calligraphy in Chinese history. He was greatly fond of geese and one would please him by giving him a gift of a goose in trade for his calligraphy. His servant, the smaller figure at the right, is carrying a goose, trading with the figure on the lower left, who is wrapping the calligraphy he received from Wang Hsi-Chi. The face of the figure on the left shows his great satisfaction, if not greed for his exchange gift. Wang Hsi-Chi's face shows detachment and a noble expression. This is an unusual composition in that the trunk of the tree occupies the center part of the painting and divides the painting in two parts, indicating the artist's intention to denote the human characteristics of the figures. A brush pot, brush and ink stone are on the stone table beneath the tree. The first seal at the upper left reads: "Pao-shi." The seal at the lower right reads: "My mission is only to create the new." "E-yu," which is the Chinese cyclic year of 1945. The inscription at left reads: "The last day of the first month of 1945. The inscription at left reads: "The last day of the first month of 1945, Hsin-yu Fu Pao-shih painted this picture in Szechwan." Condition: Minor buckling of backing.