Old Pine Tree

畫松圖

late 1530s

Wen Zhengming 文徵明

(Chinese, 1470–1559)
Painting: 28 x 139.3 cm (11 x 54 13/16 in.); Overall: 29.3 x 596.9 cm (11 9/16 x 235 in.)
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Location: not on view

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Description

Here the natural appearance of a gnarled and vine-entangled pine has been transformed into a rhythmic abstraction of brushstrokes and ink tonalities, with unifying opposites—opening and closing, rising and falling—that provide the design across the horizontal scroll. The artist's inscription reads: "The force of change beyond restraint; / The dragon's whiskers are likened to a forest of spears."
Old Pine Tree

Old Pine Tree

late 1530s

Wen Zhengming

(Chinese, 1470–1559)
China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

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