Classical Chinese horse painting: skinny white horse question

[Judie]

When I was at the Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, I bought a
reproduction of a classical horse painting done by Lang Shih-ning.
Although a repro, it was beautifully hand painted and even has some
gold paint in it. My painting has about 7 - 8 horses. They are all very
round except for one white one which looks like it is starving to
death. I was trying to find the same picture and came across a
different one by the same artist which also has the starving white
horse in it.
http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/collection/selections_02.htm?docno=92&catno=15&pageno=5
enlarged picture:
http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/collection/selections_04.htm?fc=true&docno=92&catno=15

My family have always tried to figure out what the skinny horse
represents. Does anybody know?

Judie

[Barbara Bailey]

Well, this page:
<http://www.oberlin.edu/allenart/collection/pu_jin.html.

says
"Beginning in the Tang dynasty (618-907), painters such as Han Gan
(active ca. 740-756) specialized in images of powerful
horses--muscular steeds that symbolized the military strength of the
dynasty and the authority of the Tang emperors.

Also beginning in the Tang dynasty, paintings of emaciated horses came
to symbolize neglected human beings, above all talented scholars who
deserved, but often failed to receive, recognition and reward.

These themes endured in various forms throughout the later history of
Chinese painting."

"No longer a powerful, confident animal, the horse symbolized China in
decline."

This page
<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9806EED8133EF937A15753C1A961958260>
is an review of an exhibit on the Horse in chinese art. It says the
pretty much that same thing, that the emaciated horse is a symbol of
the loss of power/status/recognition.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

[Judie]

Barbara Bailey wrote:
> Well, this page:
> <http://www.oberlin.edu/allenart/collection/pu_jin.html.
>
> says
> "Beginning in the Tang dynasty (618-907), painters such as Han Gan
> (active ca. 740-756) specialized in images of powerful
> horses--muscular steeds that symbolized the military strength of the
> dynasty and the authority of the Tang emperors.
>
> Also beginning in the Tang dynasty, paintings of emaciated horses came
> to symbolize neglected human beings, above all talented scholars who
> deserved, but often failed to receive, recognition and reward.
>
> These themes endured in various forms throughout the later history of
> Chinese painting."
>
> "No longer a powerful, confident animal, the horse symbolized China in
> decline."
>
> This page
> <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9806EED8133EF937A15753C1A961958260>
> is an review of an exhibit on the Horse in chinese art. It says the
> pretty much that same thing, that the emaciated horse is a symbol of
> the loss of power/status/recognition.
>

That's so awesome! Thanks!

Judie

[Judie]

This is my repro painting I have at home:

http://www.taiyipart.com.hk/p54.htm

Judie

[Paula Jantunen]

Judie kirjoitti:

> This is my repro painting I have at home:
> http://www.taiyipart.com.hk/p54.htm

I like both those paintings (this and the A Hundred Horses one). Such a
variety of horse coat colors, just for starters! :-)

Paula

[Judie]

Oh and all the gold you see is real gold in the paint. It glitters and
shines. I love it! I got it framed really nice too. I shall have to
take a digital picture of it now.

You know you can buy one too from this site looks like. If you hit the
Reproduction text. Here is the link too:
http://www.taiyipart.com.hk/reproduc.htm
from the same museum. When I bought it was $150 US in 1999. So you will
need to look up the conversion. It is called "Eight Horses."

Judie