Bamboo, Rocks, and Lonely Orchids (1271–1368): Art, History and Details

Bamboo, Rocks, and Lonely Orchids (1271–1368) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Zhao Mengfu (Chinese, 1254–1322).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Bamboo and orchids are motifs associated with the virtues of the scholar-official. Bamboo that bends but does not break stands for moral integrity, endurance, and loyalty. Wild, fragrant orchids that bloom in the shadow symbolize modesty and the aura of learnedness. Rocks are often considered to be miniature versions of mountains that form the universe. This monochrome ink painting is brushed on paper in a masterfully calligraphic manner. While the rocks are delineated in chalky, dry strokes showing the effect of flying white (feibai), the bamboo and orchids are drawn with a swift brush demonstrating the virtuosity of the artist.

Object facts

• Title: Bamboo, Rocks, and Lonely Orchids
• Date: 1271–1368
• Creator attribution: Zhao Mengfu (Chinese, 1254–1322)
• Culture: China, Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Handscroll; ink on paper
• Dimensions: Mounted: 52.4 x 1337.7 cm (20 5/8 x 526 5/8 in.); Image: 50.9 x 147.8 cm (20 1/16 x 58 3/16 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Handscroll
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1963.515

A detail from the museum

One of the many inscriptions records that the handscroll was last remounted by Xu Shudong 徐曙東 of Jiaxing 嘉興 in 1802.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund by exchange

Further reading listed by the museum

• Sirén, Osvald. Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles. New York: Ronald Press, 1958.
• "Oriental Art Recently Acquired by American Museums, 1963." Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America 18 (1964): pp. 69–91.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.