Wang Jian Landscape Album

Author: Tianjin People's Fine Arts Publishing House
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: This is a copybook for practicing traditional Chinese painting, primarily featuring classic album leaves. Its first feature is the careful selection of classic works by renowned artists from different periods, enabling students to inherit tradition through practice. The second feature is the small size of the album leaves, with printing close to the original works, making them easy to practice and master. The third feature is the systematic content, allowing for selection based on teaching needs and personal preferences.
Wang Jian (1598-1677) was a famous painter of the Qing Dynasty. His courtesy name was Yuansuo, and he was also known as Yuanzhao. He styled himself Xiangbi and also as Qi Xiang Anzhu, hailing from Taicang, Jiangsu. In the sixth year of the Chongzhen era (1633 AD), he passed the imperial examination. Later, he served as the prefect of Lianzhou, hence also known as "Wang Lianzhou." He was the grandson of Wang Shizhen. His family possessed a wealth of ancient and modern masterpieces, and he had profound skills in imitating ancient styles, with extraordinary brushwork. He was one of the "Six Masters of Early Qing." He excelled in landscape painting, drawing inspiration from Dong Yuan and Ju Ran in the distant past, and Wang Meng and Huang Gongwang in the near past. His brushwork was sharp, ink usage rich and lustrous, trees dense and lush, and the depths of the valleys profound. His brushwork was brisk and ethereal, with meticulous rendering, embodying the strengths of profundity and ancient elegance. Occasionally, he also painted in bright green and heavy colors, achieving a harmonious blend of beauty. It is said that his landscapes resembled those of Yunlin in their meticulousness. His imitations included Wang Shiqiao's landscapes, Zhao Dayan's ink-and-inkbone spring scenes, Hongguzi's colored landscapes, sparse and dense, all written in the style of seal script for outlines. His imitations also included Ziyou's "Autumn Trees and Mountains" and "Huang Gongwang's Misty Peaks Over Distant Mountains," as well as imitations of Shen Shitai's landscapes, Wang Yuan's "Autumn Mountains," Fan Hua's colored landscapes, and Ju Ran's landscapes. His works were mostly imitations of ancient styles, showing a strong inclination toward imitation and a lack of originality, with a pronounced retrogressive and formalist artistic style. His writings include "Ranshang An Collection" and "Ranshang An Painting Notes."