Accession Number
2006/1.125

Title
Sharing a Boat in the Wind and Rain

Artist(s)
Chang Ku-nien

Object Creation Date
1983

Medium & Support
hanging scroll, ink on paper

Dimensions
35 3/8 in. x 19 in. ( 89.9 cm x 48.3 cm )

Credit Line
Gift of Dr. Cheng-Yang and Mrs. Shirley Chang

Label copy
In this painting, Chang Ku-nien depicted a secluded landscape with a single drifting boat with fishermen, a much-appreciated subject in the literati painting tradition. His use of wet ink-wash, however, shows his highly individual approach. In order to convey the motion of trees blowing in the wind and rain, his freely inked brushstrokes nearly transform the objects into a collection of abstract lines.
Born in China in the last years of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), Chang received a traditional literati training in Shanghai in the 1920s and 30s, studying painting, calligraphy, and classical literature. In 1949, Chang moved to Taiwan as the Communist government took over the mainland. While many Taiwanese contemporary literati painters continued to work in conventional styles and subject matters, Chang was eager to experiment and capture Taiwan’s iconic scenery rather than repeat the idealized landscapes of China.
(Chinese Gallery Rotation, Fall 2010)

Subject matter
Chang Ku-nien is from the last generation of artists trained in the centuries-old tradition of Chinese literati painting. He was instrumental in the revival of the practice of traditional Chinese painting that had languished under the cultural influence of Japan during its occupation of Taiwan. He was one of very few mainland painters from his generation to explore the scenery of Taiwan, where he lived in exile, using the methods of traditional Chinese ink painting.

Physical Description
Three figures in a boat withstand wind and rain as they navigate river waters. Trees along the banks seem to bend under the force of the wind. Water saturdated ink and washes blur distinctions and imply the extremity of the weather.

Primary Object Classification
Painting

Primary Object Type
hanging scroll

Additional Object Classification(s)
Painting

Rights
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Keywords
boats
hanging scrolls
ink
rain
wind (weather phenomena)