WANG FU (1362-1416), Mountainous Landscape

WANG FU (1362-1416)
Mountainous Landscape
Hanging scroll, ink on paper
56 5/8 x 12 5/8 in. (143.9 x 32.2 cm.)
Unsigned, with one seal of the artist
Two colophons, one by Wang Dashan (Ming dynasty), with one seal, dated bingzi year (1396); one by Tao Zhen (Ming dynasty), with one seal
Five collectors’ seals, including two of Pei Jingfu (1854-1924) and three of Chen Changji (1862-1908)

Pre-Lot Text
FROM THE COLLECTION OF LUO JIALUN (LOTS 1-19)
Wang Fu was a prominent calligrapher and painter from Wuxi. In 1378, he entered government service in the capital of Nanjing. This monumental and impressive mountainous ink landscape painting was inscribed by his brother Wang Dashan in 1396, when the painter was back home in retirement, after years in exile in Datong. The inscription declares that “this painting is a combination of everything good”. The dense passage oscillates between descriptions of the painting itself, narrations of the moment in which the work was painted and praise of its creator. Despite its meanings, allusions and images being rich and plentiful, one aspect in particular is especially revealing: the passage gives the viewer an idea of the context in which the work was created and points to the larger reality which the scholar painter inhabited in the early days of the Ming dynasty.
Many of Wang Fu’s paintings were made for the artist’s hosts at banquets, parties or homestays and inscribed by other scholars who were present. Paintings of this kind, therefore, were inspired and shaped by the moment and the occasion in which they were made.

Literature
Pei Jingfu, Zhuangtaoge Shuhualu Vol. 3 (Paintings and Calligraphy in the Zhuangtao Studio), Taipei, Zhonghua Publishing, p. 548-550.
Qinghe Shuhuafang (Paintings and Calligraphy in the Qinhe Boat), in Qinding Siku Quanshu, juan 12.
Liuyanzhai Erbi, in Qingding Siku Quanshu, juan 3.
Yuding Peiwenzhai Shuhuapu, in Qinding Siku Quanshu, juan 86.