Beans

Jiang Wenzhan, artist

born 1940

Beans, mid-late 1900s

Where object was made: China

Material/technique: paper; ink; color

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 67.7 x 45.5 cm
Mount Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 175.3 x 57.8 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 26 5/8 x 17 15/16 in
Mount Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 69 x 22 3/4 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: Elmer F. Pierson Fund

Accession number: 1983.0038

Not on display

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Images

Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"Using the Past to Serve the Present in 20th Century Chinese Painting," Oct-2006, Ai-lian Liu, Asian Art Intern
Inscribed:
"Harvesting Beans
I live in the Xingguo Monastery. From spring to fall I farm on a small, impoverished plot. To my surprise the harvest was bountiful in the fall; therefore I paint this “Harvesting Beans” to commemorate my life in the Xingguo."

Xingguo Monastery is on Qianfo (Thousand Buddha) Mountain near Ji’nan, in Shandong Province.

In the ordinariness of its subject drawn from rural life, this painting can be compared to two earlier works in the gallery, “Flowers and Insects” by Qi Baishi and “Loquats” by Chen Banding. At the same time, this simple celebration of agricultural success resonates with Mao’s statements about the necessary relationship between art and the life of the people: “The life of the people is always a mine of the raw materials for literature and art, materials in their natural form, materials that are crude, but most vital, rich and fundamental.”

Archive Label 2003:
Inscription:
Harvesting Beans
I live in the Xingguo Monastery. From spring to fall I farm on a small, impoverished plot. To my surprise the harvest was bountiful in the fall; therefore I paint this “Harvesting Beans” to commemorate my life in the Xingguo.