Flowers of Four Seasons, with Poems (1531): Art, History and Details

Flowers of Four Seasons, with Poems (1531) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Wang Guxiang (Chinese, 1501–1568).

The work and its context

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

In this painting, flowers are loosely arranged by the seasons: narcissus and peony represent early spring; yellow loquat and lotus, summer; chrysanthemum, autumn; and the plum and evergreen bamboo, winter. The artist added to each flower a poetic line of calligraphy associating each plant with a historic or legendary figure. For example, the chrysanthemum, along with the line “The untrammeled joy at the eastern fence,” refers to the poet Tao Yuanming (died AD 427) who enjoyed chrysanthemums at the eastern fence in his garden. The scroll illustrates Wang Guxiang’s mastery of free brushwork, combining light monochrome ink with transparent colors. In his inscription, Wang says he used the “boneless” style without outlines as developed during the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368). Wang was a native of Changzhou, a city in southeast China known for its rich flora and fauna, and flower-and-bird painting tradition.

Object facts

• Title: Flowers of Four Seasons, with Poems
• Date: 1531
• Creator attribution: Wang Guxiang (Chinese, 1501–1568)
• Culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: handscroll; ink and light color on silk
• Dimensions: Painting only: 24 x 545 cm (9 7/16 x 214 9/16 in.); Overall: 24 x 547.5 cm (9 7/16 x 215 9/16 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Handscroll
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1977.4

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Mi dian zhu lin shi qu bao ji. San bian 秘殿珠林石渠寶笈. 三編. Taipei: National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院, 1969. Facsimile reprint of original manuscript dated 1816.
• Ferguson, John C 福開森. Li dai zhu lu hua mu 歷代著錄畵目. Nanjing: Chin-ling University, Zhong guo wen hua yan jiu suo 金陵大學中國文化硏究所, [民國23] 1934.
• Chen, Rentao 陳仁濤. An annotated list of lost calligraphy and painting from the (Qing) Palace Collection = 故宮已佚書畫目校注. Hong Kong: 統營公司: 東南書局, 1956.

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.