QIAN WEICHENG (1720-1772) - photo 1
QIAN WEICHENG (1720-1772) - photo 2
QIAN WEICHENG (1720-1772) - photo 3

QIAN WEICHENG (1720-1772)

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HKD 8 820 000
Auction dateClassic
03.12.2022 10:30UTC +08:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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ID 862849
Lot 856 | QIAN WEICHENG (1720-1772)
QIAN WEICHENG (1720-1772)

Landscape after the Four Yuan Masters

Handscroll, ink on paper

33 x 523 cm. (13 x 206 in.)

Inscribed in winter, bingxu year (1766) and again in fourth month, dinghai year (1767) and signed, with two seals of the artist

Dedicated to third brother (Qian Weiqiao)

Further inscribed and signed, with two seals of the artist

Colophons by Qian Daxin (1728-1804), Qian Zai (1708-1793), Zhao Yi (1727-1814), Zhao Huaiyu (1747-1823), Zhang Qia (1718-?), Peng Yuanrui (1731-1803), Ping Shengtai (18th Century), Shao Songnian (1848-1923), Yang Qinglin (19th Century), with a total of twenty-five seals

Fourteen collector’s seals, including one of Cao Wenzhi (1735-1798), one of Wang Lizhai (18th/19th Century), two of Ye Honghan (Qing Dynasty), four Jin Chuansheng (19th-20th Century) and one Yang Qinglin (19th Century)

Frontispiece by Fan Yongqi (1727-1795), with three seals

Titleslip by Yang Qinglin (19th Century), with one seal





Provenance

Lot 2600, 1 April 2019, Fine Classical Chinese Paintings, Sotheby’s Hong Kong.



Literature

Qian Zai, Poems Collection of Tuoshi Zhai, Vol. 32, in Xuxiu Siku Quanshu – Ji (Revised Edition of The Complete Books of the Four Repositories - Collections) Vol. 1443, Shanghai Rare Books Press, Shanghai, 2002, p.267.

Zhao Yi, Oubei Collection, Vol. 21, in Xuxiu Siku Quanshu – Ji (Revised Edition of The Complete Books of the Four Repositories - Collections) Vol. 1446, Shanghai Rare Books Press, Shanghai, 2002, pp.515-516.

Zhao Huaiyu, Collection of Yiyousheng Zhai, Vol. 5 and 28, in Xuxiu Siku Quanshu – Ji (Revised Edition of The Complete Books of the Four Repositories - Collections) Vol. 1469, Shanghai Rare Books Press, Shanghai, 2002, pp.311 and 585.

Peng Yuanrui, Manuscripts of Enyu Tang, Vol. 3, in Xuxiu Siku Quanshu – Ji (Revised Edition of The Complete Books of the Four Repositories - Collections) Vol. 1447, Shanghai Rare Books Press, Shanghai, 2002, p.497.

Qian Daxin, Collection of Qianyan Tang, Vol. 5, in Xuxiu Siku Quanshu – Ji (Revised Edition of The Complete Books of the Four Repositories - Collections) Vol. 1439, Shanghai Rare Books Press, Shanghai, 2002, p.387.

Shao Songnian, Record of Chenglan Tang,Vol. 14, in Xuxiu Siku Quanshu – Ji (Revised Edition of The Complete Books of the Four Repositories - Collections) Vol. 1088, Shanghai Rare Books Press, Shanghai, 2002, pp.248-250.

Xu Bangda ed., Chronology of Chinese Paintings: Revised Edition, People’s Fine Art Publishing, Beijing, March 1995, p.238.

Shanghai Museum ed., Seals and Signatures of Chinese Calligraphers and Painters, Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing, December 1987, pp.1498-1499, pl.22, 24, 28 and 33 (seals and signature of Qian Weicheng); p.1364, pl.11, 13 and 15 (seals of Zhao Huaiyu); p.1495, pl.22 (seal of Qian Zai)

Kaikodo Journal VII- The Power of Form, Kaikodo, New York, Spring 1998, pp.106, 243-244, pl.20.

Kaikodo Journal XII - Scholarly Premises, Kaikodo, New York, Autumn 1999, p.146.



Exhibited

New York, Kaikodo Asian Art, The Power of Form, 5 February – 28 March 1998.



Post lot text

A Top Scholar at Leisure -
Landscape after the Four Yuan Masters
and Its Colophons

A native of Wujin, Jiangsu province, Qian Weicheng (1720-1772) passed the provincial examination in 1738 and ranked first in the court examination in 1745. He then moved up the ranks and served in various positions, including vice-president of the Board of Works and vice-president of the Board of Punishments. The young Qian Weicheng was taught painting by his grandmother, Chen Shu (1660-1736). And his painting skills progressed since he met Dong Bangda (1699-1769) at work.

A top scholar and painter, Qian’s painting style, very similar to that of Dong, stemmed from the Four masters of the Yuan dynasty and the Four Wangs of the early Qing period. According to his inscription on Landscape after the Four Yuan Masters, Yu Mingzhong (1714-1780) showed him a painting by Wang Yuanqi (1642-1715), which brought together the techniques of the Four Yuan masters: Huang Gongwang (1269-1354), Wang Meng (1308-1385), Ni Zan (1301-1374) and Wu Zhen (1260-1354). Although he always wanted to make a copy based on this painting, he never had the time. Finally he painted Landscape after the Four Yuan Masters with the same objective, yet it was far from Wang’s painting due to his limited talent. This demonstrates his humbleness but at the same time, his ambition to challenge the old master Wang and his own painting skills and techniques.

Landscape after the Four Yuan Masters comprises four seamlessly painted scrolls whose mountains, rivers, trees and rocks come together in a concerted way. The rolling mountains encircle river scenes, dotting with a fishing boat, sampan, some thatched cottages and boardwalk bridges in the foreground and some sailboats from afar. The stylistic features of the Four Yuan masters are carefully designed to evoke their landscapes of Jiangnan in creating an idyllic scenery of its own right.

This handscroll was painted during the winter of 1766 when Qian Weicheng was on duty at the South Library in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. Using his spare time after meals to brush, Qian completed this exquisite and subtle landscape a bit more than two months later. In the fourth month of next year his younger brother Qian Weiqiao (1739-1806) came to the capital and Qian inscribed on the painting again and gifted it to his brother. Qian Weiqiao cherished this handscroll a lot and invited the scholar-official and historian Qian Daxin (1728-1804), the South Library Attendant Qian Zai (1708-1793), the Imperial Grand Secretary and collector Pang Yuanrui (1731-1803), the poet and historian Zhao Yi (1727-1795) and other well-respected literati to inscribe colophons on it. Indeed, Landscape after the Four Yuan Masters linked up the gentry class of the Qianlong period and presented not only a magnificent painting by Qian Weicheng but also the literati scene at that time.
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