Beans and Grasshopper

Object Details

• Artist

  Li Shan (1686-ca. 1762)

• Label

  Li Shan, one of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou," was a native of Hsiang-hua in Kiangsu Province. He studied bird and flower paintings with Kao Ch'i-p'ei (1672-1734) and the famous court painter Chiang T'ing-hsi (1669-1732). Li Shan served as a court painter for several years, and then left because of his strong personality. He lived in Yanchow as a professional painter. Together with a group of other painters who shared an untrammeled and strong individual style, Li Shan is among the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" This album in which this leaf is included depicts various flowers, fruits, vegetables, and insects in a free-hand watercolor method. Each leaf is described with a quatrain or an inscription around the subject. The album is not dated. Stylistically, both the calligraphy and the painting are neat and restrained when compared to Li Shan's late works, and so the album can be assigned to the artist's middle period.

• Provenance

  To 1960

  Chen Rentao (1906-1968), Hong Kong, and Frank Caro, C. T. Loo & Co., New York, to 1960 [1]

  From 1960 to 1979

  U.S. Customs Service, Department of the Treasury [2]

  From 1979

  Freer Gallery of Art, from October 23, 1979 [3]

  [1] This object is one of a group of 88 objects (F80.104-F80.180, FSC-S-22-25 and FSC-O-11a-h) seized in 1960 by the U.S. Customs Service, Department of the Treasury, from the dealer and collector Chen Rentao, Hong Kong and Frank Caro of C. T. Loo & Co., New York.

  The objects were deemed to have been introduced into the commerce of the United States in violation of 19 U.S.C. 1592 (Trade with Communist China).

  [2] See note 1. The object’s ownership title is based on the settlement agreement, dated November 1971, between the United States, Chen Tung Siang Wen, the executrix for Chen Rentao Estate, and Frank Caro, copy in object file.

  See U.S. Customs Service Memorandum, April 23, 1979 and a letter from Thadeus Rojek, Chief Counsel, Department of the Treasury, U.S. Custom Service, to Marie C. Malaro, Assistant General Counsel, Smithsonian Institution, dated November 29, 1979, copy in object file. The objects remained in the custody of the U.S. Customs Service office in New York until 1979.

  [3] The object was transferred to the Freer Gallery of Art on October 23, 1979.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Ch'ing Dynasty Calligraphy and Painting (August 30, 1985 to January 26, 1986)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Chen Rentao 陳仁濤 (1906-1968)

  Frank Caro (1904-1980)

  U.S. Customs Service

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Transfer from the United States Customs Service, Department of the Treasury

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1730s, 1740s

• Name

  U.S. Customs Service, Caro, Frank, Chen, Rentao

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Art, Insects, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Flowers, Vegetable

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings