Playing Weiqi at the Water Pavilion

Playing Weiqi at the Water Pavilion, mid-20th century
Fu Baoshi (Chinese, 1904–1965)
China
Hanging scroll; ink and color on Korean paper; 49 3/4 x 29 1/2 in. (126.4 x 74.9 cm)
Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in memory of La Ferne Hatfield Ellsworth, 1988 (1988.324.3)

Description

The intensity of man and nature are matched in this masterful painting by Fu Baoshi depicting scholars playing weiqi (a chesslike game) in a pavilion by a stream. Fu's rich ink, deep jewel-toned colors, and characteristic scumbled surface are combined with fine-line figure drawing at the heart of the picture, where order prevails: tea is served, and a white screen imposes tranquillity. This painting was done during the Second World War, from 1939–46, when Fu lived in Sichuan, near the wartime capital in Chongqing. The poetic mists and rolling hills of the region informed his landscape style. The artist's seals at the bottom of this painting are a compendium of his personality and aspirations. "All orbits in the universe" reflects his intellectual pluralism. "Always when drunk" reveals his habit of painting when intoxicated. "My mission is only to create the new" speaks for itself.