SHITAO (ATTRIBUTED TO, 1642-1707)/ AIXINJUELUO BO WENTING (ATTRIBUTED TO, 1649-1708), Along the Yangtze River

SHITAO (ATTRIBUTED TO, 1642-1707)/ AIXINJUELUO BO WENTING (ATTRIBUTED TO, 1649-1708)
Along the Yangtze River
Inscribed and signed, with thirteen seals of Shitao
Dated bingxu year (1707)
Frontispiece inscribed by Wu Hufan, with three seals
Two colophons inscribed by Wu Hufan, with three seals
One colophon inscribed by Zhang Daqian,
Further inscribed twice on the mounting by Wu Hufan, with two seals
Twenty-six collectors’ seals, including those of Wu Hufan and Jin Lanpo
Handscroll, ink and color on silk
22 1/4 x 537 1/4 in. (56.5 x 1364.6 cm.)

Pre-Lot Text
FROM THE COLLECTION OF LUO JIALUN
Luo Jialun (1897-1969) wielded significant influence in the fields of politics and education in 20th-century China, as well as being an accomplished poet, author, and collector. He became active in politics during his studies at Fudan School in Shanghai. In 1917, while studying foreign literature at Peking University, Luo Jialun advocated literary reform and served as an editor of the student periodical, The Renaissance. These efforts culminated in his role as a student leader in the May 4th Movement. He spent several years abroad and studied in the United States, London, Berlin, and Paris. After Luo returned to China, he joined the Nationalist government and was appointed as deputy head of instruction at the Central Party Institute in Nanjing in 1927. He served as president of Tsinghua University between 1928 and 1930. In 1932 he was appointed president of National Central University in Nanjing, serving until 1941. During this time, he led the university to safety in Chongqing in the midst of the Sino-Japanese War. Luo served as the Republic of China’s ambassador to India from 1947 to 1949, before returning to Taiwan and assuming additional education related official duties. Luo acquired an extensive collection of Chinese paintings throughout his life. His family later donated many of his Classical Chinese paintings to the National Palace Museum in Taipei, as documented in the museum catalogue A Collection of Chinese Paintings Donated by Ms. Zhang Weizhen (wife of Luo Jialun).
Post Lot Text
According to the famed painter and connoisseur Wu Hufan (1894-1968) who inscribed on the frontispiece of Along the Yangtze River, this work is “the most important masterpiece of Shitao’s (1642-1707) life.” He further commented that “Shitao and Bo Wenting were the best of friends in life and in death. About half of the structure in his paintings was done by Bo Wenting, including this handscroll.” It is obvious that Wu Hufan gleaned this information from Shitao’s own inscriptions, where he commented on the magnificence of this painting by his dear friend Bowenting. The man at the center of all this attention is Aixinjueluo Bo Erduo (1649-1708), whose sobriquet is Wenting. He was a direct descendant of Nurhaci (1559-1626), the Jurchen chieftain who unified the various tribes and founded the Manchu dynasty which later conquered the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). A member of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) imperial household who held the title of “General of Assisting the State” in the third rank, Bo Wenting, who was not politically active, lived an affluent life of elegant refinement and surrounded himself with leading painters (such as Wang Yuanqi and Shitao) and literati (such as Wang Shizhen) of the day. He was known to be very learned and well-versed in classical Chinese, leaving behind a legacy of twelve volumes of literary works. His close relationship with Shitao was well-known, and is corroborated by the encomium in Shitao’s inscriptions.
A handscroll of monumental length, the painting takes the viewers on an exhilarating journey along the Yangtze River, where the grandeur of tall peaks, intrigue of grotesque rocks, spirituality of hill-top pagodas, fearlessness of travelers on donkeys, serenity of isolated villages, and peacefulness of sailing boats, are all carefully delineated in myriad of vignettes, each capable of holding its own. The subdued color palette evokes the blue-green landscape popularized by Tang dynasty (618-907) painters Li Sixun (653–718) and his son Li Zhaodao (act. early 8th C.), who, like all the early painters, used azurite and malachite as pigments for these colors. In addition to the many laudatory inscriptions by Qing literati, the 20-century master Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) also left his praise for the work, stating that Wu Hufan has shown him this work and asked him to inscribe. Besides discussing Bo Wenting’s role in this painting’s creation, he called Shitao’s brushwork “spontaneous and self-indulgent, much like the torrents gushing through the gorges of the Yangtze River.” He also applauded the monumentality of the painting as well as its color scheme.
In addition to the many laudatory inscriptions by Qing literati, the 20-century master Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) also left his praise for the work, stating that Wu Hufan has shown him this work and asked him to inscribe. Besides discussing Bo Wenting’s role in this painting’s creation, he called Shitao’s brushwork “spontaneous and self-indulgent, much like the torrents gushing through the gorges of the Yangtze River.” He also applauded the monumentality of the painting as well as its color scheme.