Twin Pines

• Hanging scroll, ink on silk, 132.1 x 57.4 cm

Cao Zhibai, style name Yunxi, depicted in the foreground of this painting two large pine trees. In the background is a vast expanse, making this work a continuation of the Li Cheng tradition of wintry trees against a level distance.

On the painting is an inscription by the artist that reads, "On the 'Human Day' (7th day of the 1st lunar month) in the second year of the Tianli reign (February 6, 1329), Yunxi did this screen of pine trees to be sent to Shimo Boshan as an expression of remembrance." Shimo Boshan (1281-1347) was an influential Khitan official who was the great-grandson of Shimo Yexian, a meritorious figure in the Mongol defeat of the Jin dynasty. Not long beforehand, Shimo Boshan relinquished his post at court to become Commander of Fujian. Cao Zhibai probably used the imagery of two stalwart pines reaching to the skies to praise the virtue and uprightness of Boshan. During the Dade reign (1297-1307), Cao Zhibai served as Instructor at Kunshan. However, soon afterwards he resigned and went into reclusion; he was a figure who maintained relations with scholars from different ethnic backgrounds.