11 Items in this Learning Collection
![The painting depicts three fishes below a calligraphic poem. The poem goes: "I once painted Three Fish and inscribed it: painting is what I did in the time remaining after work, poetry in the time remaining after sleep, and calligraphy in the time remaining after carving. This is what I call the three remaining." (in Chinese, "fish" and "remaining" are pronounced the same)](/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMjIvMDUvMjUvM3V6aDd6bnZmdV9kZWZhdWx0LmpwZyJdLFsicCIsInRodW1iIiwiMjQweDIwMCJdXQ?sha=bda759ec12b36bd1 "The painting depicts three fishes below a calligraphic poem. The poem goes: "I once painted Three Fish and inscribed it: painting is what I did in the time remaining after work, poetry in the time remaining after sleep, and calligraphy in the time remaining after carving. This is what I call the three remaining." (in Chinese, "fish" and "remaining" are pronounced the same)")
Copyright
Red Trees on a Blue Lofty Peak
1970/2.5
Title
Red Trees on a Blue Lofty Peak
Artist(s)
Pu Ru (P'u Ju)
Object Creation Date
circa 1951
Medium & Support
ink and color on paper
Dimensions
23 ¾ in x 11 ¼ in (60.33 cm x 28.58 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Marvin Felheim Collection
Label copy
Pu Ru
China, 1896–1963
Red Trees on a Blue Lofty Peak
Modern period (1912–present)
ca. 1951
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper
Gift of the Marvin Felheim Collection, 1970/2.5
Pu Ru, a direct descendant of the founding emperor of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), learned to paint by copying earlier masterpieces in his family’s collection. Although he grew up surrounded by imperial splendor, he also witnessed
the collapse of dynastic rule and the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, followed by Japanese occupation in the 1930s. When the Communists won control of the mainland in 1949, he moved with his family to Taiwan, where he painted this scroll. The subject is a lone fisherman floating peacefully on Lake Tai, a secluded location ideal for a recluse. The accompanying poem reads:
When the frost first forms on the red foliage
The [saturated] jade-green color of the lofty peaks is on the verge of pouring down
A fisherman sits in his small boat,
Lonely and sailing down Five Lakes [Lake Tai] in autumn.
The work may express Pu Ru’s longing for a peaceful life free of political disturbances, with the fisherman, who retains an attitude of imperturbable calmness despite the autumn cold, being a stand-in for the artist.
Subject matter
landscape painting of mountains and a lone boatman in Lake Tai.
Physical Description
A blue and green mountain looms over a lake, taking up the right portion of the picture. Above and to the left is calligraphic text and three red seals. In the lake below is a boat.
Primary Object Classification
Painting
Primary Object Type
hanging scroll
Additional Object Classification(s)
Painting
Collection Area
Asian
Rights
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Keywords
autumn
boats
calligraphy (process)
ink
mountains
painting (coating)
painting (image-making)
