Rongbaozhai Ancient Painting Anthology (Volume XIII): Ming Landscape: Ming Landscape

Author: Wen Zhengming
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1997-03-01
Features: Wen Zhengming was a comprehensive artist with profound artistic cultivation. He wrote the "Futian Collection" in 36 volumes. His poetry was fresh and natural, just like his paintings in terms of elegance and grace. His calligraphy was clear, vigorous, and exquisite, with a free and rhythmic style, complementing his paintings perfectly. His poetry, painting, and calligraphy formed a complete artistic whole. Wen Zhengming became a representative figure of the Wumen Painting School and led it for 50 years after Shen Zhou's death. He had numerous students, and his sons and nephews carried on the tradition, spreading his influence for centuries across the Ming and Qing dynasties. As a painting school and an artist, his influence was so profound and widespread that it is rarely seen in the history of Chinese painting. Wen Zhengming's achievements in painting also lay in his innovation and exploration of brushwork.
Regarding Wen Zhengming's landscape paintings, there has been a tradition of classifying them as "coarse Wen" and "fine Wen." The coarse Wen style is closer to his teacher Shen Zhou in terms of artistic style, primarily derived from Dong Yu and the Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty. These works are mostly ink paintings with varying shades of dry and wet ink, forming a harmonious whole with rich layers and multiple expressions, though individuality is not particularly prominent. More representative should be the fine Wen style, which is a typical painting style created by Wen Zhengming after comprehensively learning and inheriting traditional painting techniques.