Rongbaozhai Ancient Painting Anthology (50) - Qing Dynasty · Landscape Section

Author: Wang Hui (Qing Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-03-10
Features: Wang Hui (1633–1717), styled Shigu, known as Gengyan Sanren, Wumeishan Ren, Qinghui Zhuren, was a native of Changshu, Jiangsu. One of the "Four Wangs" in the early Qing painting circles. Although considered the youngest among the "Four Wangs," Wang Hui's talent and skill reached the pinnacle, earning him the title of a great painter "unseen in five hundred years." Wang Hui deeply studied painting theory and mastered the techniques of masters, yet he was not bound by schools of thought. He could "gather the ancients in a single scroll and concentrate all beauty in his brushwork." His landscape paintings emphasized creative composition, focusing on the atmosphere of mountains and rivers, as well as the arrangements of vertical and horizontal perspectives, near and far distances. His color palette favored simplicity and elegance, with variations within a single hue and a sense of spiritual emptiness in the uncolored areas. He pursued art with a focus on intuition. In the third year of the Kangxi reign (1691), the emperor ordered him to lead the creation of the long scroll The Southern Tour, for which he and his disciple Yang Jin traveled to the capital and spent over three years completing it. The Kangxi Emperor awarded him the inscription "Qingshui Shanshui" (Clear and Bright Mountains and Waters) in recognition, and after his fame rose, he declined official posts and returned to the south, selling paintings for thirty years, achieving the same mainstream status as Wang Shimin, Wang Jian, and Wang Yuanqi. Wang Hui's artistic practice reflects Chinese Taoist thought, particularly the aesthetics of Chan Buddhism, which emphasizes the role of intuition. This book follows the basic framework of the history of ancient Chinese painting, organizing works around traditional painting themes and styles in two categories: content and form. It primarily features stylized works and masterpieces of typical painters, focusing on technical characteristics, artistic style, and exemplary effects. This book will serve as nourishment for the soil of national painting art.