Shen Zhou (1427-1509) MING DYNASTY, CHENGHUA PERIOD, DATED TO 1470

 



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signed Shen Zhou, dated gengyin, 1470, the sixth year of the Chenghua reign, inscribed, with a dedication, three seals of the artist, seven collectors' seals and the Imperial seals Qianlong yulan zhi bao ('Treasure appreciated by the Emperor Qianlong'), Shiqu Baoji ('The Precious Collection of the Stone Canal Pavilion'), and Qianqinggong jiancang bao ('Treasure for Appreciation from the Palace of Perfect Brightness'), wood double boxes

An old Japanese collection (according to the title slip on the outer box's cover inscribed by Yamada Tokuta (1852-1935), a Japanese calligrapher).

Shiqu Baoji (chubian) [The Precious Collection of the Stone Canal Pavilion (First Volume)], Qinding Siku Quanshu ed., juan 8, pp. 30-31.

Paper loss can be seen throughout the painting, but has been well restored. There are some very minor foxing to the edge of the painting. Generally, the painting is in quite good overall condition.
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Shen Zhou (1427-1509), whose literary name was Qinan and sobriquet names were Shi Tian and Baishi Weng, was a native of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. He excelled in poetry and painting. He first learned landscape painting from his family members, as well as Dong Qiong (1396-1474) and Zhao Tonglu (1423-1502). Later he derived his styles from Dong Yuan (c. 934-962), Ju Ran (fl. 10th century) and Li Cheng (919-967).  Mid-career, he changed his style and modeled his work after Huang Gongwang (1269-1354), and then immersed himself in Wu Zhen's (1280-1354) style in his later years. Shen Zhou studied all schools of painting but was still able to create his own unique style. He was the master and founder of the Wu School, whose followers included Wen Zhengming (1470-1559) and Tang Yin (1470-1524).

This painting is dedicated to Xicun, also known as Shi Jian, whose literary name was Minggu, and was a devoted friend and related by marriage to Shen Zhou's. Both men were reclusive literati living in the Wu region of Jiangsu Province. It was painted in the sixth year of the Chenghua reign (1470), when Shen Zhou was forty-four years old - a time when the two men were close friends.  In Shen Zhou's poetry anthology, it was recorded that the two along with Liu Jue (1409-1472) and Shen Zhao wrote poems to each other commemorating their visit to the West Lake. The following year, the two men and Liu Jue visited Lin'an together to pay tribute to Lin Hejing (967-1028), a famous Northern Song dynasty reclusive poet.

Around this time, most of Shen Zhou's paintings were modelled after ancient masters, from Dong Yuan, Ju Ran, Jin Hao (c. 880-940) and Guan Tong (906-960) through the Four Masters of the Yuan dynasty.  He chose to study their all styles rather than concentrating on only one school's style. The inscription on the painting suggests that the work was done in the styles of Jin Hao and Guan Tong.

The vertical composition of the mountains through angular brushstrokes is a Northern School characteristic.  The scene with a waterfall cascading down leads the viewer to the foreground with a thatched hut amid a few trees. The scholar holding a walking stick as he strolls with a servant boy by his side is a true reflection of Shen and Shi's reclusive life.

Shen Zhou's admiration for Ni Zan (1301-1374) is seen through his use of zhedai ('folded band') texture brushstrokes, resulting in a bony and austere appearance. The dense ink, however, is Shen Zhou's own signature style. The scholar and poet Wang Shizhen (1526-90) once commented that "Shi Tian [Shen Zhou] mastered all styles, but tended to exaggerate Ni Yunlin's [Ni Zan]."

The painting is impressed with Xieyi Tang zhenwan shuhua tushu, ('Treasured Playthings, Calligraphy, Paintings and Books in the Xieyi Tang'), the collector seal belonging to Prince Cheng (1677-1732), the third son of Emperor Kangxi. The work later entered the Qing Court collection, and is recorded in Shiqu baoji ('The Precious Collection of the Stone Canal Pavilion'), placed in the first volume of the Imperial paintings catalogue (fig.1) and impressed with the seal Qianqinggong jiancang bao ('Treasure for Appreciation from the Palace of Perfect Brightness'). The cover of the outer wood box has a title slip signed by and impressed with a seal of Yamada Tokuta (1852-1935), a renowned calligrapher in Japan, suggesting that the painting somehow left the Qing court and was once collected in Japan.

For examples of paintings in similar style by Shen Zhou, see a scroll painting titled Elegant Gathering at the Wei Garden, dated to the yichou year of the Chenghua reign (corresponding to 1469), now in the Liaoning Provincial Museum, illustrated in The Painting Anthology of Four Masters of the Ming Dynasty, Tianjin, 1993, pl. 1.  Another painting titled Landscape in the Style of Ni Zan, dated to the guisi year of the Chenghua period (corresponding to 1473), is now in the collection of the Shanghai Museum, ibid., pl. 3; and a third example, Strolling Recluse, also in the Shanghai Museum but undated,  illustrated in ibid., pl. 91.