Yellow Chrysanthemums and Red Osmanthus in the Style of Wang Yuan (1468): Art, History and Details

Yellow Chrysanthemums and Red Osmanthus in the Style of Wang Yuan (1468) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Shen Zhou (Chinese, 1427–1509).

The work and its context

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

Shen Zhou, a native from Suzhou, was descended from a prominent land-owning family with strong ties to literati culture. Because Shen Zhou never entered government service, he had ample opportunity to cultivate the arts of painting, poetry, and calligraphy. Chrysanthemums and red osmanthus both bloom in autumn. The deep orange osmanthus flowers emanate a characteristically sweet fragrance. According to his inscription on the painting, Shen Zhou sought to imitate the style of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) painter Wang Yuan. His color-filled brushstrokes and washes, however, anticipate the flower painting style of Yun Shouping, whose Peonies are also in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection, https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1967.192. The sheer size and complex composition of this scroll are impressive.

Object facts

• Title: Yellow Chrysanthemums and Red Osmanthus in the Style of Wang Yuan
• Date: 1468
• Creator attribution: Shen Zhou (Chinese, 1427–1509)
• Culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: hanging scroll; ink on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 397.1 x 127.4 cm (156 5/16 x 50 3/16 in.); Painting only: 288.5 x 106.3 cm (113 9/16 x 41 7/8 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1997.100

Collection credit

Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry

Further reading listed by the museum

• Dubosc, Jean-Pierre, and Laurence Sickman. A Loan Exhibition, Great Chinese Painters of the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties, XV to XVIII Centuries: For the Benefit of the Asia Institute, March 11 to April 2, 1949. New York, NY: Wildenstein, 1949.
• Dubosc, Jean Pierre, and Alberto Giuganino. Mostra D'arte Cinese: Catalogo = Exhibition of Chinese Art: Catalogue. Venezia: Alfieri Editore, 1954.
• Sirén, Osvald. Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles. New York: Ronald Press, 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.