  About the Artwork
  
  
  During the Choson dynasty (1392–1910) in Korea, the ruling class consisted of scholar-officials trained in Chinese classics and Neo-Confucian philosophy. A scholar’s home would have contained a room filled with objects and works of art to aid his literary pursuits and signal his preference for simple elegance. This restrained and tasteful painting once hung in such a study. The plum blossom is one of the so-called four gentlemen, a group of plants that also includes the orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum, thought to embody Confucian ideals, and was therefore a common subject matter in scholar painting. Chong Tae-gyu was a specialist in plum blossom paintings. Because the plum tree blooms before the snow melts, it symbolizes strength and courage in adversity. Three inscriptions in Chinese praise the beauty of the plum blossom. The fan thus embodies the “three perfections”—poetry, calligraphy, and painting—considered essential accomplishments of a gentlemen-scholar.
 
From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)
  
  
  Title
  Plum Blossoms
  
  
  Artwork Date
  19th century
  
  Artist
  Jeong Taekyu
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  19th century
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  Korean
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Ink on paper
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 61 × 40 1/4 × 1 1/2 inches (154.9 × 102.2 × 3.8 cm)
  Image: 16 1/2 × 30 1/2 inches (41.9 × 77.5 cm)
  Installed: 63 × 40 1/4 × 1 1/2 inches (160 × 102.2 × 3.8 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  Asian Art
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence P. Fisher, by exchange
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  2000.89
  
  
  Copyright
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