Selections

After Li Ch'eng's Wintry Grove on a Level Plain

Hsieh Shih-ch’en (1488-after 1567) and Wen Cheng-ming (1470-1559), Ming Dynasty
Handscroll, ink on paper, 42.5 x 159.2 cm (painting) and 42.5 x 1722.6 cm (calligraphy)

Hsieh Shih-ch’en, a native of the Soochow area, excelled at landscape painting and followed the style of Shen Chou. Wen Cheng-ming of Soochow was a gifted artist who also followed Shen Chou. Hsieh sought the calligraphy of Wen. After Wen saw Li Ch’eng’s Wintry Grove on a Level Plain, he composed a colophon in praise. Hsieh had it for 12 years, when (in 1547), he made a painting after the original to complement Wen’s calligraphy. Hsieh painted a bare and desolate scene wrapped in mist and clouds—which all come from the Li Ch’eng tradition. Wen’s running script derives from the style of Huang T’ing-chien, but is somewhat weak.

Curious Rocks and Luxuriant Bamboo

Hsia Ch’ang (1388-1470), Ming Dynasty
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 275.1x104.7 cm

Hsia Ch’ang (style name Chung-chao and sobriquets Tzu-tsai chü-shih and Yü-feng) was a native of K’un-shan, Kiangsu who excelled at painting in monochrome ink, learning from Wang Fu (1362-1416) and Ch’en Chi (1370-1434).

In this painting are three stalks of bamboo growing on a slope at water’s edge. The bamboo was limned with first strokes in thick, fluid ink. Bamboo leaves and grasses are stiff and pointed, while the rocks are depicted in twisting, spirited brushwork. Hsia Ch’ang was a master of brush and ink, giving his works a light and radiant quality that is evident here.