Ink Bamboo (1200s): Art, History and Details

Ink Bamboo (1200s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This deceptively simple composition features two upright stalks of bamboo with leafy stems extended to fill the silk. The painter sensitively balanced ink tones and brushstrokes. The leaves that cross in front of other leaves are outlined in clear silk.

Object facts

• Title: Ink Bamboo
• Date: 1200s
• Culture: China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: hanging scroll; ink on silk
• Dimensions: Image: 91.2 x 39.8 cm (35 7/8 x 15 11/16 in.); Overall: 172.7 x 57.2 cm (68 x 22 1/2 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1982.138

A detail from the museum

In traditional Chinese culture, bamboo symbolizes a gentleman's virtuous resilience and flexibility.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review for 1982.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 1 (January 1983): 3–55.

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.