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Absorb the Past; Abandon the Present
style of Qian Hui'an (Chinese, 1833–1911)
1800s–1900s
- Medium
- Accordion-style album of 10 painted leaves; ink and color on silk
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- 44 x 35 cm (17 5/16 x 13 3/4 in.); Each painting: 33 x 33 cm (13 x 13 in.)
- Culture
- China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Chinese Art
- Credit line
- Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Qian Huian, active in Shanghai, was best known for his paintings of beautiful women, and historic and mythological figures, rendered in a distinct style. His figures appear eccentric and the color palette pale to pink. The album’s title, Absorb the Past, Abandon the Present, reflect the desire to find refuge in China’s Past, as the country was going through the devastating Taiping rebellion at the time the paintings were created.
