Fu Baoshi (Chinese, 1904–1965). <em>Two Scholars Beneath a Tree, Unmounted hanging scroll</em>, dated January, 1945. Unmounted hanging scroll, ink and light color on paper, Exclusive of cloth borders: 53 7/8 x 15 3/4 in. (136.8 x 40 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Carll H. de Silver Fund and A. Augustus Healy Fund, 78.44. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: , 78.44_PS9.jpg)

Why is this image so small?

This image is presented as a "thumbnail" because it is protected by copyright. The Brooklyn Museum respects the rights of artists who retain the copyright to their work.

Fu Baoshi (Chinese, 1904–1965). Two Scholars Beneath a Tree, Unmounted hanging scroll, dated January, 1945. Unmounted hanging scroll, ink and light color on paper, Exclusive of cloth borders: 53 7/8 x 15 3/4 in. (136.8 x 40 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Carll H. de Silver Fund and A. Augustus Healy Fund, 78.44. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: , 78.44_PS9.jpg)

Two Scholars Beneath a Tree, Unmounted hanging scroll

Fu Baoshi

Asian Art

ARTIST Fu Baoshi, Chinese, 1904–1965

MEDIUM Unmounted hanging scroll, ink and light color on paper

Place Made: China

DATES dated January, 1945

PERIOD Republic Period

DIMENSIONS Exclusive of cloth borders: 53 7/8 x 15 3/4 in. (136.8 x 40 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Asian Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 78.44

CREDIT LINE Carll H. de Silver Fund and A. Augustus Healy Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION A large tree rises from the lower right corner, the wet washes indicating its branches and leaves filling the upper half of the picture. An old scholar rolls a scroll on a stone table beneath the tree at left; his brush pot, brush, and inkstone are on the table before him. At the right, further back, another scholar walks toward the left followed by a boy attendant carrying a white crane in his arms. Date, signature and sale upper left. Two other seals at lower right. Condition: minor buckling of backing. 2nd Catalogue Card: The exchange of Geese for Wang Hsi-Chi's calligraphy. The larger figure in the upper right, the subject of this painting is Wang Hsi-Chi (321-379) who was considered the sage of calligraphy in Chinese history. He was greatly fond of geese and one would please him by giving him a gift of a goose in trade for his calligraphy. His servant, the smaller figure at the right, is carrying a goose, trading with the figure on the lower left, who is wrapping the calligraphy he received from Wang Hsi-Chi. The face of the figure on the left shows his great satisfaction, if not greed for his exchange gift. Wang Hsi-Chi's face shows detachment and a noble expression. This is an unusual composition in that the trunk of the tree occupies the center part of the painting and divides the painting in two parts, indicating the artist's intention to denote the human characteristics of the figures. A brush pot, brush and ink stone are on the stone table beneath the tree. The first seal at the upper left reads: "Pao-shi." The seal at the lower right reads: "My mission is only to create the new." "E-yu," which is the Chinese cyclic year of 1945. The inscription at left reads: "The last day of the first month of 1945. The inscription at left reads: "The last day of the first month of 1945, Hsin-yu Fu Pao-shih painted this picture in Szechwan." Condition: Minor buckling of backing.

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Fu Baoshi (Chinese, 1904–1965). Two Scholars Beneath a Tree, Unmounted hanging scroll, dated January, 1945. Unmounted hanging scroll, ink and light color on paper, Exclusive of cloth borders: 53 7/8 x 15 3/4 in. (136.8 x 40 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Carll H. de Silver Fund and A. Augustus Healy Fund, 78.44. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: , 78.44_PS9.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 78.44_PS9.jpg., 2019

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

Copyright for this work may be controlled by the artist, the artist's estate, or other rights holders. A more detailed analysis of its rights history may, however, place it in the public domain. The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.

Collection Menu

Two Scholars Beneath a Tree, Unmounted hanging scroll

Fu Baoshi

Asian Art

RELATED OBJECTS