Title
Watching fish from the bridge
1985
Artist
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Details
- Alternative title
- 廊桥观鱼圖
- Place where the work was made
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China
- Cultural origin
- China
- Date
- 1985
- Media categories
- Scroll , Painting
- Materials used
- ink and colour on paper
- Dimensions
- 68.0 x 79.5 cm image; 182.8 x 79.5 cm scroll
- Signature & date
Signed and dated u.r. corner, in Chinese, inscribed in black ink "乙丑夏延文" [Yichou year (1985) summer Yanwen], stamped in red seal "楊 " [Yang].
- Credit
- Bequest of Edmund Capon AM OBE 2023
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 188.2023
- Copyright
- © Estate of Yang Yanwen
- Artist information
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Yang Yanwen 杨延文
Works in the collection
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About
The theme of this luminous painting evokes a classic Chinese tale often referred as the ‘The joy of fish’. In the story, philosophers Zhuangzi (369–298 BCE) and Huizi (c.370–310 BCE) were strolling on a bridge over the River Hao and watching fish swimming when they debated whether one could know the joy of fish. The underlying profoundness of this seemingly silly story emphasises the limitation of human knowledge.
Yang Yanwen studied oil painting from Wu Guanzhong (1919–2010) at the Beijing Art College (later Central Academy of Arts and Design, and currently part of Tsinghua University), but turned to ink painting while at Beijing Fine Art Academy in 1978. His paintings explore a fusion of Chinese and Western techniques, with bold and unrestrained pictures and smooth brushwork.
A&L report, June 2023 -
Places
Where the work was made
China