Lot 1055: Mountains Shrouded in Clouds

MEI QING (1623-1697) Mountains Shrouded in Clouds Inscribed with a poem and signed, with four seals of the artist Hanging scroll, ink and light colour on paper 190.5 x 61 cm. (75 x 24 in.) 17th Century

190.5 x 61 cm.

17th Century

Mei Qing (1623-1697) was born in Xuancheng, a county in Anhui province. His courtesy name was Yuangong and pseudonym Qushan. He passed the imperial provincial examination in 1654, the eleventh year of the Shunzhi era (1643-1661), and became a juren. Mei practised Chinese painting in the style of the Yuan artist Wang Meng and was a great friend to the painter Shitao (1642-1707), influencing his early style. As both of them excelled at painting Mount Huang (or Huangshan), they were seen as prominent representatives of the Huangshan School of painting. In this painting, Mei inscribed that he had painted it in the style of Wang Meng. Despite claiming repeatedly that he was imitating the styles of the Yuan masters, Mei created his own artistic world with bold, dynamic brushstrokes and clever uses of ink. He was also a great poet and calligrapher.