Duck
Artist/Culture
Chinese
Artist/Culture
Cui Bai
Date1279–1400
Mediumsilk
Dimensionsimage: 39.5 x 37.1 cm (15 9/16 x 14 5/8 in.)
overall: 147.2 x 50 cm (50 15/16 x 19 11/16 in.)
overall: 147.2 x 50 cm (50 15/16 x 19 11/16 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineGift of Miss Florance Waterbury
Object number1957.164
DescriptionYuan dynasty or early MingLabel TextThis painting, acquired by the donor in Japan, came into the collection as an album leaf. Recent observation and remounting found evidence to suggest that it may have been cut from a larger painting. Although numerous Yuan bird and flower paintings survive. they are--for the most part--by minor artists. Many of these paintings have been preserved in Japan which valued representational paintings with rich color and a decorative treatment of form. One sees these qualities in this painting in the definition of the duck's body as juxtaposed flat areas of contrasting tone and texture rather than as a rounded mass. The matter-of-fact quality of this and other Yuan bird pictures was a deliberate artistic choice to suggest earthiness rather than a lofty ideal. In China, on the other hand, this style had a lower status than expressive ink painting which has come to define Chinese painting since the Yuan dynasty.ProvenanceMiss Florance Waterbury, New York NY
On View
Not on view
Chinese
early 15th century, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
