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Lotus and Waterfowl

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Follow the bird’s upturned gaze from its low rock to the dark lotus leaf drooping on its long stalk, across a wide stretch of bare paper.

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The Art Institute dates this scroll 1697 and attributes it to Zhu Da, which means it thinks the painting is probably his. A single water bird stands on a low rock and stretches its neck toward a lotus leaf hanging on a long, bending stalk; nearly everything else is bare paper. The Art Institute notes that Zhu Da’s highly individual style was especially influential among later Shanghai painters, such as Ren Yi.

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Hanging scroll; ink on paper · 95.6 × 37.5 cm · Art Institute of Chicago · Chinese painting: Qing

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Details and source

Museum title
Lotus and Waterfowl
Artist
Attributed to Zhu Da 朱耷 (Chinese, 1626-c.1705)
Date
Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 1697
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions
95.6 × 37.5 cm (37 5/8 × 14 3/4 in.)
Credit line
Buckingham Fund
Image license
CC0 1.0 · Public domain
Museum record
Art Institute of Chicago

Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.

Lotus and Waterfowl · Attributed to Zhu Da, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 1697
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Lotus and Waterfowl, Attributed to Zhu Da

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