China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911) / mid- to late 1600s
Fish and Rocks
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Fish and Rocks as painting (China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911) · mid- to late 1600s).
After each poem, Bada Shanren used his so-called jixingyin seal 屐形印, which resembles the impression of a shoe on soft mud.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this painting as Handscroll; ink on paper and credits Bada Shanren (Chinese, 1626–1705).
The museum's collection notes: Bada Shanren, also called Zhu Da, a 17th-century painter who rejected conventions in favor of an individual, personal expression, is known for his unorthodox compositions of fish, flowers, birds, and rocks. Fish in his paintings are often looking upward toward heaven, swimming in a pond of undefined space. As a member of the Ming imperial family, Zhu Da lost his princely status and hid in a monastery when the Manchus, foreigners from the north, established the Qing dynasty in 1644. This scroll may have some autobiographical meaning, representing fish as leftover subjects ( yimin ) who lived in a void, having lost their roles in life after the
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The Cleveland Museum of ArtFish and RocksOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.