Tung
Ch'i-ch'ang, employing only monochrome ink, depicts mountains and
boulders, trees and woods, streams and rivers, and cottages and slopes-all
well placed in a landscape that is here piled into a composition of power
and grandeur. In the upper right corner is the title Hsia-mu ch'ui-yin
(lit. Summer trees casting shades) inscribed by the artist, who further
says:
I
once viewed the painting Hsia-mu ch'ui-yin by Tung Yuan at Wu K'uan's
residence in Chang-an and
I
realized that though Huang Kung-wang surpassed Tung Yuan, he learned his
art from the older master.
Mi
Fei used to comment on his own calligraphy, saying that his tongue could
well express what his brush
could
not follow, such is the case with my painting. (Signed) Tung Hsiian-tsai.
(Two seals) :Tsung-po Hsueh-
shih
(and) Tung Hsuan-tsai Shih.
In
this landscape, Tung uses the practices and movements of calligraphic
brushstroke and though he employ sink with tremendous variations from the
thickest through the most dilute and from the dryest to the moistest, the
dominant tone is set by the use of the richly wet brush.
Tung
Ch'i-ch'ang was born in 1555, a native of Hua-t’ing, Chiang-su Province.
His style name was Hsuan-tsai; his sobriquet Ssu-pai. He obtained the
degree of chin-shih in 1588, became a prominent official and ultimately
rose to be President of the Board of Rites. He was an outstanding
calligrapher and was acclaimed as the best of the Ming dynasty in both
semi-cursive and cursive scripts. In landscape painting, he not only
acquired a perfect command of the styles of the Sung and Yuan masters but
also created his own style, a style that is elegant, refined, and coolly
intellectual in mood. His reputation in painting was not below that of the
Four Masters of the Ming dynasty – Shen Chou, T'ang Ying, Ch'iu Ying and
Wen Cheng-ming. Tung was an avid collector and a distinguished
connoisseur. He wrote several books and was considered the foremost
authority on painting of his age and of lasting influence. He died in 1636
at the age of 82 sui and was granted the posthumous name Wen-ming.
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