Square Word Calligraphy: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, Walt Whitman
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Object Label
This painting was created by Xu Bing specifically for the Brooklyn Museum’s new galleries for the Arts of China. The painting reads from left to right, following English word order, and from top to bottom in columns, as in traditional Chinese texts. It also includes an artist’s seal using Square Word Calligraphy, in red ink. The work is composed of a title and colophon, followed by the first verse of “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” by the poet Walt Whitman.
It reads:
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,
By Walt Whitman Calligraphy by Xu Bing
An artist who used to live in Brooklyn. Flood-tide below me! I see you face to face!
Clouds of the west—sun there half an hour high—I see you also face to face.
Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes, how curious you are to me!
On the ferry-boats the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning home, are
more curious to me than you suppose, And you that shall cross from shore to shore
years hence are more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose.
Caption
Xu Bing Chinese, born 1955. Square Word Calligraphy: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, Walt Whitman, 2018. Ink on paper, a (mounted): 48 13/16 × 89 3/8 in. (124 × 227 cm) a (unmounted): 39 × 74 in. (99 × 188 cm) b (mounted): 48 13/16 × 89 3/8 in. (124 × 227 cm) b (unmounted): 39 × 74 in. (99 × 188 cm) frame (a): 94 5/16 × 52 5/16 × 2 1/2 in. (239.6 × 132.9 × 6.4 cm) frame (b): 94 3/8 × 52 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (239.7 × 132.7 × 6.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Xu Bing to the Brooklyn Museum in honor of his father, 2018.24a-b. © artist or artist's estate
Tags
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Square Word Calligraphy: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, Walt Whitman
Date
2018
Medium
Ink on paper
Classification
Dimensions
a (mounted): 48 13/16 × 89 3/8 in. (124 × 227 cm) a (unmounted): 39 × 74 in. (99 × 188 cm) b (mounted): 48 13/16 × 89 3/8 in. (124 × 227 cm) b (unmounted): 39 × 74 in. (99 × 188 cm) frame (a): 94 5/16 × 52 5/16 × 2 1/2 in. (239.6 × 132.9 × 6.4 cm) frame (b): 94 3/8 × 52 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (239.7 × 132.7 × 6.4 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Xu Bing to the Brooklyn Museum in honor of his father
Accession Number
2018.24a-b
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
The Brooklyn Museum holds a non-exclusive license to reproduce images of this work of art from the rights holder named here. 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. If you wish to contact the rights holder for this work, please email copyright@brooklynmuseum.org and we will assist if we can.
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