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Eagle on a Tree Trunk
Huang Shen (Chinese, 1687–after 1768)
1755
- Medium
- Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Image: 124 x 45 cm (48 13/16 x 17 11/16 in.); Overall: 213.2 x 61.2 cm (83 15/16 x 24 1/8 in.)
- Culture
- China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign (1736–95)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Chinese Art
- Credit line
- Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Huang Shen’s swift painting style is paralleled in his calligraphy. The vertical line in running script echoes the fluid form of the eagle on a tree trunk covered with a twisted vine. A native of Fujian province, Huang came to Yangzhou in 1724 to make his living as a painter. He needed years to develop a style that met the taste of his clients. He eventually became known as a figure painter and as one of the Eccentrics from Yangzhou, a group of local artists known for their unorthodox painting style.