Ferghana Horse, after Jin Nong

Description

Inscription: Ferghana Horse, after a painting by Dongxin Laoren (Jin Nong)
Seal of the artist
Although he died at the youthful age of thirty-four, Ren Xiong was a true intellectual who was adept at many types of art. This scroll features a single profile of a horse. The artist’s inscription states that the painting is modeled after Jin Nong’s (1687–1764) famous work entitled Ferghana Horse. Ferghana was the name of an ancient Central Asian kingdom known for its exceptional horses. Although Ren Xiong based this work on Jin Nong’s famous painting, his portrayal of the horse differs, possessing a delightfully whimsical and humorous expression.
(Gallery Rotation Fall 2011)
Gallery Rotation Fall 2011
Ren Xiong
China, 1820–1857
Ferghana Horse, after Jin Nong
Qing Period (1644–1912)
ca. 1840–57
Hanging scroll, ink on paper
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker Art Collection Fund, 1985/2.32
Although he died at the youthful age of thirty-four, Ren Xiong was a true Chinese literati, or artist-intellectual, adept at many visual arts. The inscription on this scroll featuring a single horse in profile states that it is modeled on a famous historic painting by Jin Nong (1687–1764) depicting a Ferghana horse (Ferghana was the name of an ancient Central Asian kingdom known for its exceptional horses). Here Ren Xiong is observing the traditional literati practice of copying works by earlier masters, but rather than closely adhering to the style of the painting to which he is paying homage, he reinterprets it in his own manner. Ren Xiong’s portrayal of the horse differs particularly in its delightfully whimsical and humorous expression.