Years 1000 to 1400
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : China Song Yuan Chinese porcelain Song to Yuan porcelain Chinese art Chinese calligraphy Mountains in China Chinese dragon Christianity
See also : China Song Yuan Chinese porcelain Song to Yuan porcelain Chinese art Chinese calligraphy Mountains in China Chinese dragon Christianity
1080 Letter to a Friend by Zeng Gong
2016 SOLD for RMB 207M by China Guardian
Zeng Gong lived at the height of the Song dynasty. He had received the jinshi, the highest degree of the imperial exams, and had a parallel literary and military career, as it was often the case. He was a historian, geographer, poet and essayist. Without being a professional calligrapher, he was a collector of ancient calligraphy and inscribed tablets.
An autograph letter has survived. 124 characters in regular kaishu script are distributed in thirteen columns in a perfect parallelism and spacing on a 29 x 38 cm sheet. It is precisely dated, corresponding to September 27, 1080 CE. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
In this document titled Jushi Tie (letter on some happenings), Zeng writes to a friend whom he had not seen for three years. He expresses his doubts about his ability to hold a post at the court. This question was on the spot since he will be summoned a month later in the capital Kaifeng to be awarded a promotion by the Shenzong emperor, with the mission of a study on the history of the Five Dynasties.
Jushi Tie was sold for RMB 109M by Poly on November 22, 2009, lot 5126, and for RMB 207M by China Guardian on May 15, 2016, lot 1424.
An autograph letter has survived. 124 characters in regular kaishu script are distributed in thirteen columns in a perfect parallelism and spacing on a 29 x 38 cm sheet. It is precisely dated, corresponding to September 27, 1080 CE. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
In this document titled Jushi Tie (letter on some happenings), Zeng writes to a friend whom he had not seen for three years. He expresses his doubts about his ability to hold a post at the court. This question was on the spot since he will be summoned a month later in the capital Kaifeng to be awarded a promotion by the Shenzong emperor, with the mission of a study on the history of the Five Dynasties.
Jushi Tie was sold for RMB 109M by Poly on November 22, 2009, lot 5126, and for RMB 207M by China Guardian on May 15, 2016, lot 1424.
Wood and Rock by Su Shi
2018 SOLD for HK$ 460M by Christie's
Under the Song, the literati are philosophers and humanists who sometimes have the audacity to oppose imperial politics. Their supreme mode of expression is calligraphy, which conveys to their readers the firmness and rhythm of their thought.
In 1071 CE, Su Shi had been expelled from the capital, starting at the age of 34 a second career as a provincial servant with increasingly mediocre missions despite his immense talent. He died in 1101. His younger friend Mi Fu escaped political persecution by his reputation for eccentricity. They were the two best calligraphers in their lifetime.
A nine-character autograph message on a 28 x 9.5 cm sheet sent by Su Shi to the governor of a locality that he was leaving was sold for $ 8.2M by Sotheby's on September 19, 2013.
Graphic art is exceptional in their works. The movement of the artist's hand is the same as for calligraphy. The rare drawings by Su Shi translate emotions too deep to be expressed in words. Mi Fu will only paint in the last years of his life, mostly after Su Shi's death.
On November 26, 2018, Christie's sold for HK $ 460M as lot 8008 a 26 x 50 cm ink on paper painted by Su Shi. This piece is extended by many colophons including an appreciation calligraphed by Mi Fu, and includes many seals. Please watch two videos shared by the auction house.
The image consists of two elements that join together : a leafless tree twisted into several undulations and a bulky rock. The dryness of the tree expresses the desolation of the artist in his exile while at the opposite edge on the left flank of the rock the sparse bamboos bring the hope of a new vitality.
In 1071 CE, Su Shi had been expelled from the capital, starting at the age of 34 a second career as a provincial servant with increasingly mediocre missions despite his immense talent. He died in 1101. His younger friend Mi Fu escaped political persecution by his reputation for eccentricity. They were the two best calligraphers in their lifetime.
A nine-character autograph message on a 28 x 9.5 cm sheet sent by Su Shi to the governor of a locality that he was leaving was sold for $ 8.2M by Sotheby's on September 19, 2013.
Graphic art is exceptional in their works. The movement of the artist's hand is the same as for calligraphy. The rare drawings by Su Shi translate emotions too deep to be expressed in words. Mi Fu will only paint in the last years of his life, mostly after Su Shi's death.
On November 26, 2018, Christie's sold for HK $ 460M as lot 8008 a 26 x 50 cm ink on paper painted by Su Shi. This piece is extended by many colophons including an appreciation calligraphed by Mi Fu, and includes many seals. Please watch two videos shared by the auction house.
The image consists of two elements that join together : a leafless tree twisted into several undulations and a bulky rock. The dryness of the tree expresses the desolation of the artist in his exile while at the opposite edge on the left flank of the rock the sparse bamboos bring the hope of a new vitality.
Christie’s Announces 1000-year-old $50m Su Shi Scroll https://t.co/eVdovdYFyr pic.twitter.com/XpeTTOdBby
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) August 30, 2018
1095 Calligraphy of a Tang poem
2010 SOLD for RMB 436M by Poly
A scroll of paper from Song period was sold for RMB 436M by Poly on June 3, 2010. It is completely covered with characters drawn in ink by Huang Tingjian, one of the most famous master calligraphers of his time. It is a fine example of his art consisting of semi-cursive letters in an energetic and accentuated style. Depending on location, this text includes from 4 to 15 characters within the height.
Completed around 1095 CE, this scroll is 37 cm high with a length exceeding 8 m, 15 m including the colohons contains 600 characters of which some examples are presented in the article shared by China Daily. Titled Di Zhu Ming, it is a copy of a Tang poem. It includes a small portrait of the calligrapher artist.
Completed around 1095 CE, this scroll is 37 cm high with a length exceeding 8 m, 15 m including the colohons contains 600 characters of which some examples are presented in the article shared by China Daily. Titled Di Zhu Ming, it is a copy of a Tang poem. It includes a small portrait of the calligrapher artist.
Ru Ware
2017 SOLD for HK$ 294M by Sotheby's
In the history of mankind, artistic refinement is not a matter of continuous improvement, as one might believe. The chemical secret of the Imperial ceramics of the Northern Song is lost for a long time, and the quality of the smooth and translucent glaze using agate powder will never be equaled.
The best production center was known as the Ru kilns, Ru yao in Chinese. Ru ceramics are very rare because this operation lasted only a few years, 900 years ago during Zhezong and Huizong periods and was stopped by the fall of the dynasty. The site of the Ru yao, lost since the Yuan, was located in 1987 in Henan Province and excavated in 2000.
By a positioning on tiny studs during cooking without turning the piece upside down, the glaze savings that so displeased at the court of the Northern Song are avoided. The celadon color of which several shades are available equals the refinement of the jade. In the fashion of that time perfect proportions and minimalism are preferred to the complexity of shapes.
Located on what was to become a border zone between north and south, the Ru kilns did not survive the fall of the Northern Song. Their undocumented activity which was perhaps not in the service of the court had only lasted about two decades.
A quarter of a century after the fall of the Northern Song a courtier presents to the Gaozong Emperor of the Southern Song a significant group of Ru ware. The Emperor who was just managing to restore the legendary refinement of his dynasty admires the exceptional quality of these porcelains and especially some pieces whose surface has a texture like ice crackles. This effect modeling the creation of minerals in nature is appreciated as sensational. It was related to the chance of the cooling conditions in the Ru kilns but the Southern Song potters discovered the conditions to be applied to create such a texture at will.
87 pieces of Ru porcelain of the Northern Song are known. Four of them are in private hands.
A 13 cm round brush washer was sold for HK $ 294M by Sotheby's on October 3, 2017, lot 5. This intense blue-green piece has an exceptionally shiny crackled surface. Please watch the short video shared by the auction house.
The classic color of Ru is a very pale blue-green jade imitation. A washer 13.5 cm in diameter in smooth texture and very good condition was sold for HK $ 208M by Sotheby's on April 4, 2012. The edge is pinched in six locations, simulating the petals of a flower. This piece was known long before the rediscovery of the site.
The best production center was known as the Ru kilns, Ru yao in Chinese. Ru ceramics are very rare because this operation lasted only a few years, 900 years ago during Zhezong and Huizong periods and was stopped by the fall of the dynasty. The site of the Ru yao, lost since the Yuan, was located in 1987 in Henan Province and excavated in 2000.
By a positioning on tiny studs during cooking without turning the piece upside down, the glaze savings that so displeased at the court of the Northern Song are avoided. The celadon color of which several shades are available equals the refinement of the jade. In the fashion of that time perfect proportions and minimalism are preferred to the complexity of shapes.
Located on what was to become a border zone between north and south, the Ru kilns did not survive the fall of the Northern Song. Their undocumented activity which was perhaps not in the service of the court had only lasted about two decades.
A quarter of a century after the fall of the Northern Song a courtier presents to the Gaozong Emperor of the Southern Song a significant group of Ru ware. The Emperor who was just managing to restore the legendary refinement of his dynasty admires the exceptional quality of these porcelains and especially some pieces whose surface has a texture like ice crackles. This effect modeling the creation of minerals in nature is appreciated as sensational. It was related to the chance of the cooling conditions in the Ru kilns but the Southern Song potters discovered the conditions to be applied to create such a texture at will.
87 pieces of Ru porcelain of the Northern Song are known. Four of them are in private hands.
A 13 cm round brush washer was sold for HK $ 294M by Sotheby's on October 3, 2017, lot 5. This intense blue-green piece has an exceptionally shiny crackled surface. Please watch the short video shared by the auction house.
The classic color of Ru is a very pale blue-green jade imitation. A washer 13.5 cm in diameter in smooth texture and very good condition was sold for HK $ 208M by Sotheby's on April 4, 2012. The edge is pinched in six locations, simulating the petals of a flower. This piece was known long before the rediscovery of the site.
900-year-old dish to smash US$36 million auction world record for Chinese antiques https://t.co/U56WqVJCQB pic.twitter.com/H7bBHIqiIv
— SCMP News (@SCMPNews) August 24, 2017
1244 Six Dragons attributed to Chen Rong
2017 SOLD for $ 49M by Christie's
The dragons, symbols of the emperor and his family, know how to confront the forces of nature. Their sinuous bodies sail like in weightlessness amidst clouds and waves. The varied expressions of their faces are always vigorous.
The hand scroll is an art much more refined than a mere drawing. The image is read from right to left as it is unfolded, offering the scene of a real action. The paper should also be exquisite in the touch.
Towards the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the artist Chen Rong pushed his ink pictures of dragons to the rank of masterpieces. His scrolls were much admired by the Qianlong emperor who commented on the colophons and stamped his seals.
The drawing of the fabulous beast by Chen Rong is sharp and detailed, in contrast to its wet surrounding realized by an original method of ink spraying. In the Taoist tradition, such a scene is a magical summon to rain.
The Boston Museum retains a scroll starring nine young sons of the Dragon King, 46 cm high for 15 m long, including on the painting two autograph inscriptions that provide an estimate of the date of the artwork at 1244 of our calendar.
A scroll featuring six dragons in a style similar as in the Boston specimen was sold for $ 49M from a lower estimate of $ 1.2M by Christie's on March 15, 2017 after deaccession from the Fujita Museum in Osaka, lot 507. Signed by one seal of the artist, it is 35 cm high with a length of 4.40 m for the image and 83 cm for the calligraphy. It is handled for our pleasure in the video shared by the auction house.
The hand scroll is an art much more refined than a mere drawing. The image is read from right to left as it is unfolded, offering the scene of a real action. The paper should also be exquisite in the touch.
Towards the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the artist Chen Rong pushed his ink pictures of dragons to the rank of masterpieces. His scrolls were much admired by the Qianlong emperor who commented on the colophons and stamped his seals.
The drawing of the fabulous beast by Chen Rong is sharp and detailed, in contrast to its wet surrounding realized by an original method of ink spraying. In the Taoist tradition, such a scene is a magical summon to rain.
The Boston Museum retains a scroll starring nine young sons of the Dragon King, 46 cm high for 15 m long, including on the painting two autograph inscriptions that provide an estimate of the date of the artwork at 1244 of our calendar.
A scroll featuring six dragons in a style similar as in the Boston specimen was sold for $ 49M from a lower estimate of $ 1.2M by Christie's on March 15, 2017 after deaccession from the Fujita Museum in Osaka, lot 507. Signed by one seal of the artist, it is 35 cm high with a length of 4.40 m for the image and 83 cm for the calligraphy. It is handled for our pleasure in the video shared by the auction house.
Six Dragons handscroll attributed to Chen Rong, from the Fujita Museum sold for $48,967,500 against high estimate of $1.8m #AsianArtWeek pic.twitter.com/rbMbIyub5P
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) March 15, 2017
1280 Mocked Christ by Cimabue
2019 SOLD for € 24M by Actéon
The Christian practice meets considerable transformations at the beginning of the 13th century. To maintain the devotion of the faithful, Dominicans and Franciscans need images. The formalistic figures of the Byzantine icons are not suitable. Gradually, Italian painters will rediscover the naturalism of the antique pictorial art.
In 1272 in Rome, a notarial act mentions as a witness a Florentine painter identified as "Cimabove". It is a nickname, meaning Head of Ox. This allusion to his obstinacy indicates that his maturity was already recognized. In his corpus which was certainly important, only one painting was documented during his lifetime. It was in February 1302, just before his death.
Two elements from a devotional work are formally attributed to Cimabue and dated around 1280 by Wikipedia. They are painted with egg tempera and gold background on a thick poplar board. The analysis of the edges made it possible to position the Madonna and Child as the top left of a panel and the Flagellation as the bottom right.
The Passion of Christ cannot end with the flagellation. Both paintings were part of the left panel of a diptych whose elements were cut long time ago as singles for a mercantile purpose. The whole hypothetical right panel is lost. Diptychs and polyptychs were common practice. Small in size, they were folded to be easily carried from one place of worship to another.
A third opus has just surfaced, on the theme of the Mocking of Christ. This piece of wood 25.8 x 20.3 cm with a pictorial surface of 24.6 x 19.6 cm is the element at the bottom left of the left panel. The edges perfectly match the other two elements, including the tunnels of the woodworms that had been severed during the separation.
This work is a fine example of a composition from the very beginning of the Italian Renaissance. The characters are human and the drapes are flexible. Christ is serene, contrasting with the emotion of the other characters. He is a little taller and his clothes are darker. The perspective is clumsy, with the inversion of a roof : at that time, engineers have not yet developed the relevant geometry.
The crowd is dense on both sides of Christ, with an undeniable although very subtle coordinated movement. The characters on the right, who include the thorn-crown setter, are pushing together while the fellows on the left resist this pressure for maintaining the standing Christ.
There is no previous auction history for an artwork by Cimabue. The Mocked Christ was sold for € 24M from a lower estimate of € 4M on October 27, 2019 by Actéon. Please read the article prepared by the Interenchères bidding platform and watch the video shared by Artcento. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
In 1272 in Rome, a notarial act mentions as a witness a Florentine painter identified as "Cimabove". It is a nickname, meaning Head of Ox. This allusion to his obstinacy indicates that his maturity was already recognized. In his corpus which was certainly important, only one painting was documented during his lifetime. It was in February 1302, just before his death.
Two elements from a devotional work are formally attributed to Cimabue and dated around 1280 by Wikipedia. They are painted with egg tempera and gold background on a thick poplar board. The analysis of the edges made it possible to position the Madonna and Child as the top left of a panel and the Flagellation as the bottom right.
The Passion of Christ cannot end with the flagellation. Both paintings were part of the left panel of a diptych whose elements were cut long time ago as singles for a mercantile purpose. The whole hypothetical right panel is lost. Diptychs and polyptychs were common practice. Small in size, they were folded to be easily carried from one place of worship to another.
A third opus has just surfaced, on the theme of the Mocking of Christ. This piece of wood 25.8 x 20.3 cm with a pictorial surface of 24.6 x 19.6 cm is the element at the bottom left of the left panel. The edges perfectly match the other two elements, including the tunnels of the woodworms that had been severed during the separation.
This work is a fine example of a composition from the very beginning of the Italian Renaissance. The characters are human and the drapes are flexible. Christ is serene, contrasting with the emotion of the other characters. He is a little taller and his clothes are darker. The perspective is clumsy, with the inversion of a roof : at that time, engineers have not yet developed the relevant geometry.
The crowd is dense on both sides of Christ, with an undeniable although very subtle coordinated movement. The characters on the right, who include the thorn-crown setter, are pushing together while the fellows on the left resist this pressure for maintaining the standing Christ.
There is no previous auction history for an artwork by Cimabue. The Mocked Christ was sold for € 24M from a lower estimate of € 4M on October 27, 2019 by Actéon. Please read the article prepared by the Interenchères bidding platform and watch the video shared by Artcento. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1290-1322 Letters by Zhao Mengfu
2019 SOLD for RMB 270M by China Guardian
Active after the fall of the Southern Song in 1279 CE, Zhao Mengfu is a prince-artist who belongs to the fallen dynasty. Poet, jurist, painter and calligrapher, he combines the strict clarity of regular calligraphy with the expressiveness of semi-cursive calligraphy. His allegiance to the Yuan was severely criticized in period.
His calligraphy writing gradually evolves to take example from the two supreme masters of the Jin era, Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, who had established the perfect synthesis of the various styles 950 years earlier. Zhao's writing is considered one of the best models of regular script.
On November 19, 2019, China Guardian sold a lot of two autograph letters by Zhao for RMB 270M. This set is illustrated in the press release shared after the sale by the auction house.
In one of the two letters, Zhao acknowledges the ambivalence of his political position and the embarrassment it arouses among his friends. Of course, he shows himself in his best light and considers that his attitude is courageous. He seems to have really wanted to reconcile the interests of the fallen Song and of their Mongol successors. This letter has for terminus post quem the political conversion of Zhao, around 1290 CE, and for terminus ante quem his death in 1322.
The second letter in this lot describes his support and sympathy for his friends in that time of economic difficulty and his feeling of loneliness during his stay in the capital city.
His calligraphy writing gradually evolves to take example from the two supreme masters of the Jin era, Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, who had established the perfect synthesis of the various styles 950 years earlier. Zhao's writing is considered one of the best models of regular script.
On November 19, 2019, China Guardian sold a lot of two autograph letters by Zhao for RMB 270M. This set is illustrated in the press release shared after the sale by the auction house.
In one of the two letters, Zhao acknowledges the ambivalence of his political position and the embarrassment it arouses among his friends. Of course, he shows himself in his best light and considers that his attitude is courageous. He seems to have really wanted to reconcile the interests of the fallen Song and of their Mongol successors. This letter has for terminus post quem the political conversion of Zhao, around 1290 CE, and for terminus ante quem his death in 1322.
The second letter in this lot describes his support and sympathy for his friends in that time of economic difficulty and his feeling of loneliness during his stay in the capital city.
Five Drunken Kings Return on Horses by Ren Renfa
2016 SOLD for RMB 303M by Poly
A painting titled Five Drunken Kings Return on Horses was sold for HK $ 46.6M by Christie's on November 29, 2009, lot 815, for RMB 303M by Poly on December 4, 2016, lot 4050 and for HK $ 307M by Sotheby's on October 8, 2020, lot 2575. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
It is in a very good contrast in spite of its age and has been carefully analyzed. The paper is conformant to the Song patterns and is earlier than the Ming. The scroll includes ancient colophons as well as the seals of three Qing emperors.
There are nine characters overall in this hand scroll 2.10 m long and 35 cm high painted in ink and colors. The kings are riding in vacillating attitudes and four grooms attend to assure that their honorable masters will not fall.
The artist was named Ren Renfa and lived under the Yuan dynasty. He was following a tradition dating back to the Tang dynasty for pictures of horses of great beauty. The irreverent nature of the theme is a proof of wittiness rare in art history suggesting an artistic freedom at the time of the Mongolian rule.
Although his work is not uncommon, Ren Renfa was probably not a professional artist : he made his career as an imperial official in charge of the regulation of rivers.
According to the opinion of a Ming scholar official, the drunken characters are the five sons of a Tang emperor. The leading prince riding a magnificent black horse is the future emperor Xuanzong whose love of pleasures will much later trigger a civil war against his dynasty.
The procession of drunken princes by Ren displays revealing similarities in its composition with an elegant promenade of women painted two centuries earlier by the Song artist Li Longmian and preserved at the Taiwan Museum.
It is in a very good contrast in spite of its age and has been carefully analyzed. The paper is conformant to the Song patterns and is earlier than the Ming. The scroll includes ancient colophons as well as the seals of three Qing emperors.
There are nine characters overall in this hand scroll 2.10 m long and 35 cm high painted in ink and colors. The kings are riding in vacillating attitudes and four grooms attend to assure that their honorable masters will not fall.
The artist was named Ren Renfa and lived under the Yuan dynasty. He was following a tradition dating back to the Tang dynasty for pictures of horses of great beauty. The irreverent nature of the theme is a proof of wittiness rare in art history suggesting an artistic freedom at the time of the Mongolian rule.
Although his work is not uncommon, Ren Renfa was probably not a professional artist : he made his career as an imperial official in charge of the regulation of rivers.
According to the opinion of a Ming scholar official, the drunken characters are the five sons of a Tang emperor. The leading prince riding a magnificent black horse is the future emperor Xuanzong whose love of pleasures will much later trigger a civil war against his dynasty.
The procession of drunken princes by Ren displays revealing similarities in its composition with an elegant promenade of women painted two centuries earlier by the Song artist Li Longmian and preserved at the Taiwan Museum.
masterpiece
1347-1350 Fuchun by Huang Gongwang
small fragment in Zhejiang Museum, Hangzhou and large fragment in Taipei Museum
Huang Gongwang, a scholar-official of the Southern school, had made a breakthrough in the art of landscape imaging. Disillusioned by the political turpitudes, he spent his old age in the Fuchun mountains near Hangzhou. He was acknowledged by Dong Qichang as the best master of the Yuan dynasty.
He constructed his landscape by very dry brush strokes and very light ink wash. His masterpiece is a long handscroll resulting from a three year work, 1347 to 1350 CE. Starting from observation, the artist builds an ideal Taoist landscape of mountains and rivers in which he adds many tiny details. The whole is integrating the flow of the four seasons. This realistic style departs from the yin and yang inspiration of landscape shaping. That scroll was acquired by Dong Qichang in 1596 CE.
The image of the small fragment is shared by Wikimedia.
He constructed his landscape by very dry brush strokes and very light ink wash. His masterpiece is a long handscroll resulting from a three year work, 1347 to 1350 CE. Starting from observation, the artist builds an ideal Taoist landscape of mountains and rivers in which he adds many tiny details. The whole is integrating the flow of the four seasons. This realistic style departs from the yin and yang inspiration of landscape shaping. That scroll was acquired by Dong Qichang in 1596 CE.
The image of the small fragment is shared by Wikimedia.
.JPG)
WANG MENG
Intro
The Chinese culture comes from a very strong literary tradition mixed with mysticism. In the 11th century CE, Mi Fu opened the way to the themes of the literate landscape, and for several centuries the graphic arts were often devoted to these ancient stories.
A maternal grandson of Zhao Mengfu, Wang Meng is one of the four great literati masters of the Yuan dynasty. He incorporated the techniques of Tang and Song dynasties. He survived the Yuan but was accused to support a rebellion against the Ming emperor and died in jail.
In the theme of the immensity of nature contemplated by the sage, Wang practiced two opposite styles in a single artwork. The human dwellings and occupationals are rendered in a sharp drawing of very thin brushstroke. The lush surrounding of trees and mountains provides the feeling of infinity in a very dense texture. The bare rocks escape the realism for providing an unbalanced emotion.
A maternal grandson of Zhao Mengfu, Wang Meng is one of the four great literati masters of the Yuan dynasty. He incorporated the techniques of Tang and Song dynasties. He survived the Yuan but was accused to support a rebellion against the Ming emperor and died in jail.
In the theme of the immensity of nature contemplated by the sage, Wang practiced two opposite styles in a single artwork. The human dwellings and occupationals are rendered in a sharp drawing of very thin brushstroke. The lush surrounding of trees and mountains provides the feeling of infinity in a very dense texture. The bare rocks escape the realism for providing an unbalanced emotion.
1
1350 Ge Zhichuan Relocating
2011 SOLD for RMB 400M by Poly
On June 4, 2011, Poly sold for RMB 400M a hanging scroll painted in ink and wash circa 1350 CE by Wang Meng on the theme of the migration of Ge Hong to the sacred mountains. The provenance of this artwork has been established over six centuries. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Ge Hong, also named Ge Zhichuan, lived 1,000 years before Wang in the Eastern Jin dynasty. Nicknamed the Little Immortal Old Man, he was an alchemist, a doctor and above all a Taoist master. He was going to study the secrets of immortality in the Luofu mountains. He stayed there for eight years. The image by Wang shows Ge and his suite passing through a valley under a very rocky landscape. Seven poems have been added.
Ge Hong, also named Ge Zhichuan, lived 1,000 years before Wang in the Eastern Jin dynasty. Nicknamed the Little Immortal Old Man, he was an alchemist, a doctor and above all a Taoist master. He was going to study the secrets of immortality in the Luofu mountains. He stayed there for eight years. The image by Wang shows Ge and his suite passing through a valley under a very rocky landscape. Seven poems have been added.
2
for reference
1360 Ge Zhichuan Relocating
Palace Museum, Beijing
The Palace Museum in Beijing has a 139 x 58 cm scroll by the same artist on the same theme, dated around 1360, with another landscape in an oblique perspective.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
3
Di Yan Tu
2023 SOLD for RMB 290M by China Guardian
In the theme of the smallness of man within the lush forest in front of majestic bare mountains, the Di Yan Tu hanging scroll by Wang Meng had been highly praised by the Qianlong emperor. It was recorded in the Qing catalogue Shiqu Baoji and is a rare example with the seven imperial appreciation seals, beside eight usual Qianlong seals. It has a five character poem inscribed by that emperor in running script and an inscription from the 11th year of Qianlong, 1746 CE.
The narrative input in thin lines is centered by a thatched cottage facing a stream, shaded by miscellaneous trees, while a small bridge is leading to the other side. Behind it, layers of steep mountains constitute an ideal world for the literati. A very young boy is operating an inkstone beside the stream. Inside the house with the pavilion open, a lonely seated man with a pointed beard is listening to the wonderful sound of the flowing water and watching the beautiful scenery including the clouds and the splashing of the waterfall.
The scenery and character details in this painting may be a portrayal of the aging artist in his secluded life after he abandoned his official position at the end of the Yuan dynasty.
This ink and color on paper 65 x 34 cm had been made by the artist for a friend. It was sold for RMB 290M by China Guardian on November 30, 2023, lot 2195. It is illustrated including many details in the post sale article shared by The Value.
The narrative input in thin lines is centered by a thatched cottage facing a stream, shaded by miscellaneous trees, while a small bridge is leading to the other side. Behind it, layers of steep mountains constitute an ideal world for the literati. A very young boy is operating an inkstone beside the stream. Inside the house with the pavilion open, a lonely seated man with a pointed beard is listening to the wonderful sound of the flowing water and watching the beautiful scenery including the clouds and the splashing of the waterfall.
The scenery and character details in this painting may be a portrayal of the aging artist in his secluded life after he abandoned his official position at the end of the Yuan dynasty.
This ink and color on paper 65 x 34 cm had been made by the artist for a friend. It was sold for RMB 290M by China Guardian on November 30, 2023, lot 2195. It is illustrated including many details in the post sale article shared by The Value.
