Selections
Landscape
Shen Chou (1427-1509), Ming Dynasty
Handscroll, ink and color on paper, 59.4 x 1521.8 cm
Shen Chou (style name Ch'i-nan and sobriquet Shih-t'ien) was a native of Soochow, Kiangsu . His father, Shen Heng-chi, was highly cultivated and influenced Shen Chou to study diligently and take up scholarly arts. As a result, Shen Chou showed no intention in pursuing officialdom.
This large handscroll is divided into three sections of interconnecting pines, bamboo, and plum blossoms for an extraordinary setting of composure that conveys a reclusive life of pure and unfettered leisure. Shen Chou in his works also applied the brush with ease and composure, his landscapes featuring both hemp-fiber and small axe-cut strokes. With strokes that sometimes appear as if in flight, and at others composed, they reveal his steady yet untrammeled nature.
Mount Lu
Chang Dai-chien (1899-1983), Republican Period
Handscroll, ink and color on paper, 180 x 1008 cm
Chang Dai-chien (original name Yüan, sobriquet "Layman Dai-chien") was native to Nei-chiang, Szechwan , and he studied art under Tseng Hsi and Li Jui-ch'ing in his youth, establishing a foundation in traditional painting and calligraphy. During the Sino-Japanese War, Chang traveled west to the grottoes of Tunhuang and did copies of wall paintings there, advancing his art.
This is the largest surviving work by Chang and also a masterpiece in which he exerted his utmost in strength to unite his lifetime of art with the majestic beauty of Mount Lu . The subject follows tradition, but the brush and ink are completely in his own style. This work, done in 1981, was donated to the National Palace Museum by Chang's wife, Hsü Wen-p'o, and his children.