Zhang Feng (active ca. 1628-1668)

signed Zhang Feng, dated gengyin (1650), ninth lunar month, inscribed, and with two seals of the artist, fo kong, zhang feng zhi yin, and one collector's seal, xiang zhong jian kao ding shu hua qian ji. Two additional seals (illegible).

Previously in the collection of Xiang Dicong (1889-1969)

 The Single Brushstroke: 600 Years of Chinese Painting from the Ching Yuan Chai Collection, Vancouver Art Gallery, March 15 to May 26, 1985; University of Kansas, Spencer Museum of Art, February 9 to May 22, 1987; Stanford University, Cantor Arts Center, January 15 to May 22, 2002

The Single Brushstroke: 600 Years of Chinese Painting from the Ching Yuan Chai Collection, Vancouver Art Gallery, 1985, cat. no. 62, pp. 83-84
Yiyuan Duoying (Gems From Chinese Fine Arts) Vol. 41, Shanghai, People's Art Press, June 1990, no. 46, p. 34
Comprehensive Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Paintings (Chūgoku Kaiga Sōgō Zuroku), American and Canadian Collections, Kei Suzuki, comp. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1982, A31-157, p. I-366

-Overall in good condition -Some minor restorations can be found under close examination -A few horizontal cracks can be found, which were made nearly invisible
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Inscription:
The autumn wind escorts you back to the mountain.
Even though I paint empty peaks and cloud-filled woods,
who can unravel my meaning?
Warm friendships cannot alter the chill of winter.
During the ninth month of the gengyin year (1650), I made this painting and recorded a recent poem. Zhang Feng.

Zhang Feng was a native of Nanjing, Jiangsu. What little we know of his early life follows the pattern typical of yimin painters, such as Hongren and Dai Benxiao. He had qualified for government service during the Ming dynasty but declined to serve under the Qing Manchus, electing instead to retreat to a Buddhist monastery.
Zhang Feng's oeuvre can be divided into two distinct but overlapping styles. His early landscapes, executed in pale ink, strive for a simplicity and blandness reminiscent of the Yuan dynasty masters Ni Zan and Huang Gongwang. After a trip to Beijing, which he made at about the time this painting was produced, Zhang altered his style to accomodate the monumentality of mountain scenery of northern China. His later paintings are denser and more crowded, with little interior space.
'Autumn Landscape With Figure,' may be seen as a transitional work. While compositionally more substantial than Zhang's earlier evocations of the Ni Zan manner, this painting retains a sense of light airiness, even as it introduces more complex and monumental rock formations.