Willow and Magpie
attributed to Fachang Muqi (Chinese, 1220–1280)
mid-1200s
- Medium
- hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Image: 60.4 x 30.9 cm (23 3/4 x 12 3/16 in.); Overall: 137.2 x 48.3 cm (54 x 19 in.)
- Culture
- China, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Chinese Art
- Credit line
- John L. Severance 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
The Willow and Magpie is the product of a mindset that combines knowledgeable observation of birds in general and magpies in particular with an image-making process using a sophisticated ink technique to suggest the nature of the bird, the general characteristics of willow, and the visual effect of rain and mist. These are not trivial accomplishments but of equal importance with Southern Song period achievements in lyrical poetry or canal building.
