Eagle on a Tree Trunk (1755): Art, History and Details

Eagle on a Tree Trunk (1755) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Huang Shen (Chinese, 1687–after 1768).

The work and its context

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

Huang Shen’s swift painting style is paralleled in his calligraphy. The vertical line in running script echoes the fluid form of the eagle on a tree trunk covered with a twisted vine. A native of Fujian province, Huang came to Yangzhou in 1724 to make his living as a painter. He needed years to develop a style that met the taste of his clients. He eventually became known as a figure painter and as one of the Eccentrics from Yangzhou, a group of local artists known for their unorthodox painting style.

Object facts

• Title: Eagle on a Tree Trunk
• Date: 1755
• Creator attribution: Huang Shen (Chinese, 1687–after 1768)
• Culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign (1736–95)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
• Dimensions: Image: 124 x 45 cm (48 13/16 x 17 11/16 in.); Overall: 213.2 x 61.2 cm (83 15/16 x 24 1/8 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1977.31

A detail from the museum

With its wings partially lifted and sharp beak open in expectation, the eagle seems intent on some unseen prey below.

Collection credit

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Jiao yu bu di er ci quan guo mei shu zhan lan hui zhuan ji [敎育部第二次全國美術展覽會專集= A special collection of the second National Exhibition of Chinese Art under the auspices of the Ministry of Education]. Nanjing: Shang wu yin shu guan, 1937.
• Sirén, Osvald. Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles. New York: Ronald Press, 1956.
• Fukunaga, Takehiko 福永武彥, and Howard L. Rogers. Kinnō, Bunjinga suihen. chiyūgo (9) 金農, 文人画粋編. 中国篇 9. Tōkyō: Chūōkoronsha, 1976.

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.