The painting was first owned by Mou Yueqi, a Chinese collector of the 18th century, whose seals are on it. It then belonged to the Hiyoshi collection in Japan. After that, the Paris dealer Jean-Pierre Dubosc sold it to Albert Dean Perry and Helen Wade Greene Perry of Cleveland, Ohio. They left it to the Cleveland Museum of Art in their bequest, and it has been in the museum's collection since 1997. Today it is in the museum's storage and is not on view.
Old Trees by a Wintry Brook is a hanging scroll painted by Wen Zhengming in 1551. It is done in ink with a little light color on paper and measures about 114 by 47 centimeters. The painting shows two old, twisted juniper trees standing beside a small stream. Their branches are bare and bent, and tiny dark dots along them look like moss. A few dots also look like leaves that have not fallen yet. Under the trees, light and dry brushstrokes make the rough rocks, and the stream winds quietly through the scene. Wen used almost no color, so the whole picture feels cold and still. In the upper left corner he wrote a short note in small, neat writing. It says he painted this for fun on the fifteenth day of the fifth month of 1551, when he was eighty-two years old. That date is a little strange, because it was already late spring, yet the scene looks like winter. Some people think a late snow gave him the idea. Others think the bare, twisted trees show how he felt about growing old. Even so, the small dots of leaves tell us the trees are still alive and just waiting for spring. Wen Zhengming lived in Suzhou and was a painter, poet and calligrapher. He learned painting from Shen Zhou. This work was later owned by the collector Mou Yueqi and then by a collection in Japan. It came to the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1997 as a bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry.
Old Trees by a Wintry Brook is a hanging scroll in ink with a touch of color on paper, painted by Wen Zhengming in 1551. The picture’s size is 114 by 47 cm. The work depicts two gnarled juniper trees growing by a small stream. Their branches are bare and bent, and some brown dots on the branches resemble mosses. A few dots are similar to leaves that have not been shed yet. The undergrowth of the trees is covered in light and dry brushstrokes, and the stream flows soundlessly. Wen used limited color in his painting, and in general, he creates a general impression of a cold season. In the upper left corner, he signed his name in an inscription in a small and precise script. He marked the date of completion of the painting as the fifteenth day of the fifth month of the year 1551, and he was eighty-two years old when he painted Old Trees by a Wintry Brook. This marking is quite confusing since it was already late spring, and the painting depicts the middle of winter. Some believe that a snowfall at the end of the fifth month inspired Wen to paint Old Trees by a Wintry Brook. Others believe that the author depicted withered and gnarled trees in order to show the path of aging to the end. However, the dots resembling leaves in the picture indicate that the trees are still alive and wait for the next spring. Wen Zhengming was a painter, poet, and calligrapher from Suzhou. He learned painting from Shen Zhou. After his death, Mou Yueqi collected his paintings and calligraphy, and later, a collection of them was transferred to a collector in Japan. It was donated to the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1997 as the bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry.
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By: Reetirisha Kashyap
Wen Zhengming, "Old Trees by a Wintry Brook," 1551, when the artist was 82 years of age, offers a philosophical meditation on aging, survival, and the subtle will to live. "The Cleveland Museum of Art has noted an intriguing paradox in that Wen painted the snowy landscape in the springtime-a reflection perhaps of his own musings about aging and death."
Encased in their weathered and gnarled trunks, the trees take up most of the painting's foreground, then continue on in the bleak landscape. The trunks and branches suggest a long history of suffering, while the breaks in the foliage suggesting that new life still exists. An undulating brook meanders through the stark expanse.
Many could agree that this landscape could be considered a 'metaphor for aging, yet not losing one's vigor'. Even if the tree of the winter landscape has been weakened and scarred, it is still planted firmly on the ground and living which, to me, makes it a metaphor for living. It does not imply death but a season of life.
Wen's note on the painting, which says it was painted "playfully" when the artist was 82 years old, makes it especially meaningful. The note indicates that the artist explored the spirit of the end of life while still remaining inquisitive and creative. The hope the painting inspired is gentle and may be more meaningful than angry or plaintive works that focus on physical decline.
