Red Trees on a Blue Lofty Peak

Description

Pu Ru (P’u Ju)
China, 1896–1963
Red Trees on a Blue Lofty Peak
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 gained control of
mainland China 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 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.

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.

Summer 2022 Gallery Rotation
__________

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.