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Celestial Mountains and Pavilions
Details
QIU YING (CIRCA 1495-1552)
Celestial Mountains and Pavilions
Hanging scroll, ink and colour on paper
113.5 x 41.5 cm. (44 3/4 x 16 3/8 in.)
Entitled, inscribed and signed, with two seals of the artist
Dated third month, gengxu year of the Jiajing period (1550)
Ten collector’s seals, including one of Zhang Shanzi (1882-1940) and seven of Zhang Daqian (1899-1940)
Titleslip by Zhang Daqian
Celestial Mountains and Pavilions
Hanging scroll, ink and colour on paper
113.5 x 41.5 cm. (44 3/4 x 16 3/8 in.)
Entitled, inscribed and signed, with two seals of the artist
Dated third month, gengxu year of the Jiajing period (1550)
Ten collector’s seals, including one of Zhang Shanzi (1882-1940) and seven of Zhang Daqian (1899-1940)
Titleslip by Zhang Daqian
Literature
Zhang Daqian, Dafeng Tang Calligraphy and Painting Catalogue, 1943, p.19.
Zhang Daqian, Masterpieces from the collection of Dafeng Tang, Vol. 1, 1947.
Zhang Daqian, Masterpieces from the collection of Dafeng Tang, Vol. 1, 1947.
Exhibited
Chengdu, Sichuan Fine Arts Association, Paintings and Calligraphy from the Dafeng Tang Collection, 15 -17 March 1944.
Further details
Confidant across Five Hundred Years – Qiu Ying’s Celestial Mountains and Pavilions from the Dafeng Tang Collection
While the anecdotes about Zhang Daqian’s travel, paintings and love of food have long been relished, few has been mentioned about his sumptuous collection of Chinese paintings. Zhang said proudly in 1954:
“They praise my paintings for the uniqueness across five hundred years, yet my art connoisseurship is good enough to be endorsed by Molin, Qingbiao, Yizhou and Xu Zhai. Throughout these five hundred years, I dare to say there has been nobody who had achieved the same level of connoisseurship like me!”
In no doubt Zhang’s paintings have been highly and widely recognized. To examine his exquisite eye on Chinese Classical paintings and calligraphy that he boasted superior to that of the famous collectors like Xiang Yuanbian (Molin), Liang Qingbiao, An Qi (Yizhou) and Pang Yuanji (Xu Zhai), one can study any item from his Dafeng Tang (The Great Wind Hall) collection, such as Landscape and Calligraphy by Bada Shanren sold at Christie’s Hong Kong in autumn 2018 and recorded in Masterpieces from the collection of Dafeng Tang, Vol. 3.
Dafeng Tang collection of Classical paintings and calligraphy is one of the very few outstanding collections in modern times. According to the chronology of Zhang Daqian, Zhang came back from Dunhuang in 1943 and in December, he moved to Shangqing Palace of Mount Qingcheng where the Dafeng Tang Calligraphy and Painting Catalogue was published. In spring 1944 on 15 March, the exhibition Paintings and Calligraphy from the Dafeng Tang Collection organised by the Sichuan Fine Arts Association commenced. Over 170 works of Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing periods were showcased in two sessions: 15-17 March and 18–20 March, due to the space constraint of the venue (see Fig.1). At that time it was so rare to have an exhibition on Classical paintings and calligraphy of a private collection that visitors flocked in with their admission tickets.
In the first session from 15–17 March, three works by Qiu Ying (circa 1495-1552) were exhibited, including No.38 Celestial Mountains and Pavilions (Lot 836). This painting was well known to the art collectors and connoisseurs, as it was first recorded in Dafeng Tang Calligraphy and Painting Catalogue in 1943, then in Masterpieces from the collection of Dafeng Tang, Vol. 1 in 1947. The whereabouts of this painting was unknown until recently: it has been revealed that it belonged to Wang Chunqu (1901-1989) who passed it on to his descendants. Wang was a pupil of Qian Mingshan (1875-1944) and a bosom friend of Zhang Daqian and Xie Yucen (1899-1935). In the 1940s Zhang had to sell paintings to repay loans for his Dunhuang trips so Wang possibly purchased this work from Zhang.
Celestial Mountains and Pavilions was apparently cherished by Zhang Daqian and his brother Zhang Shanzi, as eight out of ten collector’s seals found at the bottom left and right of this hanging scroll belonged to them.
Painted in 1550, Celestial Mountains and Pavilions was a late work of Qiu Ying. Its composition, gongbi or meticulous brush execution and colour techniques echoed those of an early version of the same painting by the artist, now in the National Palace Museum collection in Taipei. Starting from the top with peaks in the background rendered in gradations of ink washes, the mountains in the foreground were outlined with crisp and vigorous brushstrokes, faintly coloured in azurite and ochre and dotted with trees. In the mid-section of the painting, amidst clouds and haze there existed pavilions in the undulating pine valleys: on the left a scholar was resting on a daybed while admiring the scenery; the flowing water led to a stone bridge where a servant carrying a qin was approaching his master; inside the pavilion on the right two seated gentlemen were playing chess, accompanied by the cranes and trees in the open space, as well as the sound of flowing water of the riverbank. This is a masterpiece of gongbi or meticulous brush oozing with literati vibes.
An artisan of lacquer with humble origins, Qiu Ying later became a student of Zhou Chen (circa 1450-1535) and a professional painter in the Jiangnan area. Thanks to the patronage of art collectors Zhou Fenglai (1523-1555), Chen Guan (? – after 1557) and Xiang Yuanbian (1525-1590), he copied and learnt from the Song and Yuan paintings in their collections and eventually became one of the Four Masters of the Wu School. According to Wen Zhengming, Qiu Ying’s painting made him feel ashamed. Some of Qiu’s paintings had inscriptions by his contemporaries Tang Yin, Peng Nian, Wen Jia and Lu Shidao etc. that testified their friendships.
Zhang Daqian’s early life experience resonates with that of Qiu Ying: his mother and sister taught him how to paint when he was a boy, then he went to Japan to study dyeing and later became a professional painter in China. Qiu Ying’s extant works are the rarest amongst the Four Masters of the Wu School. This explains why Zhang imprinted seven collector’s seals on the cherished Celestial Mountains and Pavilions that he collected at young age. Standing in front of this masterpiece, one can visualize such a bonding across five hundred years.
While the anecdotes about Zhang Daqian’s travel, paintings and love of food have long been relished, few has been mentioned about his sumptuous collection of Chinese paintings. Zhang said proudly in 1954:
“They praise my paintings for the uniqueness across five hundred years, yet my art connoisseurship is good enough to be endorsed by Molin, Qingbiao, Yizhou and Xu Zhai. Throughout these five hundred years, I dare to say there has been nobody who had achieved the same level of connoisseurship like me!”
In no doubt Zhang’s paintings have been highly and widely recognized. To examine his exquisite eye on Chinese Classical paintings and calligraphy that he boasted superior to that of the famous collectors like Xiang Yuanbian (Molin), Liang Qingbiao, An Qi (Yizhou) and Pang Yuanji (Xu Zhai), one can study any item from his Dafeng Tang (The Great Wind Hall) collection, such as Landscape and Calligraphy by Bada Shanren sold at Christie’s Hong Kong in autumn 2018 and recorded in Masterpieces from the collection of Dafeng Tang, Vol. 3.
Dafeng Tang collection of Classical paintings and calligraphy is one of the very few outstanding collections in modern times. According to the chronology of Zhang Daqian, Zhang came back from Dunhuang in 1943 and in December, he moved to Shangqing Palace of Mount Qingcheng where the Dafeng Tang Calligraphy and Painting Catalogue was published. In spring 1944 on 15 March, the exhibition Paintings and Calligraphy from the Dafeng Tang Collection organised by the Sichuan Fine Arts Association commenced. Over 170 works of Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing periods were showcased in two sessions: 15-17 March and 18–20 March, due to the space constraint of the venue (see Fig.1). At that time it was so rare to have an exhibition on Classical paintings and calligraphy of a private collection that visitors flocked in with their admission tickets.
In the first session from 15–17 March, three works by Qiu Ying (circa 1495-1552) were exhibited, including No.38 Celestial Mountains and Pavilions (Lot 836). This painting was well known to the art collectors and connoisseurs, as it was first recorded in Dafeng Tang Calligraphy and Painting Catalogue in 1943, then in Masterpieces from the collection of Dafeng Tang, Vol. 1 in 1947. The whereabouts of this painting was unknown until recently: it has been revealed that it belonged to Wang Chunqu (1901-1989) who passed it on to his descendants. Wang was a pupil of Qian Mingshan (1875-1944) and a bosom friend of Zhang Daqian and Xie Yucen (1899-1935). In the 1940s Zhang had to sell paintings to repay loans for his Dunhuang trips so Wang possibly purchased this work from Zhang.
Celestial Mountains and Pavilions was apparently cherished by Zhang Daqian and his brother Zhang Shanzi, as eight out of ten collector’s seals found at the bottom left and right of this hanging scroll belonged to them.
Painted in 1550, Celestial Mountains and Pavilions was a late work of Qiu Ying. Its composition, gongbi or meticulous brush execution and colour techniques echoed those of an early version of the same painting by the artist, now in the National Palace Museum collection in Taipei. Starting from the top with peaks in the background rendered in gradations of ink washes, the mountains in the foreground were outlined with crisp and vigorous brushstrokes, faintly coloured in azurite and ochre and dotted with trees. In the mid-section of the painting, amidst clouds and haze there existed pavilions in the undulating pine valleys: on the left a scholar was resting on a daybed while admiring the scenery; the flowing water led to a stone bridge where a servant carrying a qin was approaching his master; inside the pavilion on the right two seated gentlemen were playing chess, accompanied by the cranes and trees in the open space, as well as the sound of flowing water of the riverbank. This is a masterpiece of gongbi or meticulous brush oozing with literati vibes.
An artisan of lacquer with humble origins, Qiu Ying later became a student of Zhou Chen (circa 1450-1535) and a professional painter in the Jiangnan area. Thanks to the patronage of art collectors Zhou Fenglai (1523-1555), Chen Guan (? – after 1557) and Xiang Yuanbian (1525-1590), he copied and learnt from the Song and Yuan paintings in their collections and eventually became one of the Four Masters of the Wu School. According to Wen Zhengming, Qiu Ying’s painting made him feel ashamed. Some of Qiu’s paintings had inscriptions by his contemporaries Tang Yin, Peng Nian, Wen Jia and Lu Shidao etc. that testified their friendships.
Zhang Daqian’s early life experience resonates with that of Qiu Ying: his mother and sister taught him how to paint when he was a boy, then he went to Japan to study dyeing and later became a professional painter in China. Qiu Ying’s extant works are the rarest amongst the Four Masters of the Wu School. This explains why Zhang imprinted seven collector’s seals on the cherished Celestial Mountains and Pavilions that he collected at young age. Standing in front of this masterpiece, one can visualize such a bonding across five hundred years.