Lot 539: SHI ZHONG (XU DUANBEN 1438-AFTER 1518)

SHI ZHONG (XU DUANBEN 1438-AFTER 1518)
A Journey to Red Cliff
Handscroll, ink on paper
30 x 110.5 cm. (11 3/4 x 43 1/2 in.)
Entitled and signed, with two seals of the artist
Colophon by Wen Peng (1498-1572), Ode to Red Cliff in cursive script
Signed, with three seals of the artist
Ten collector's seals of Tang Zuomei (19th century)

THE LU FANG GE COLLECTION OF CHINESE PAINTINGS

The owner of the Lu Fang Ge Collection first began his business in Beijing in the 80's, where he met by chance Qi Gong, Huang Zhou, Dong Shouping and Fan Zeng, who became his mentors and ignited his passion towards Chinese painting and calligraphy. Over thirty years of collecting the Lu Fang Ge Collection became a repository for precious and rare paintings - the fifty two paintings presented here are a combination of both classical and modern paintings that encompass a broad period of Chinese art and culture. Many of these works were purchased through auction many years ago with enviable provenance and will add strength to any collection.
The Lu Fang Ge Collection contains many paintings from prominent artists in the Ming dynasty, such as Shen Zhou's Cooling in a Bamboo Grove, Wen Zhengming's Poetry in Cursive Script (catalogued in the Shiqu Baoji), Wen Dian's Study in a Village by a River, Lu Zhi's NarcissusM and Lan Ying's Landscapes album. In particular, Dong Qichang's Five Sacred Mountains, previously in the collection of Luo Zhenyu, was exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum in 1928. The Collection also contains a strong collection of paintings from the Qing dynasty, such as Yuan Yao's Palace under Moonlight, Fu Shan's Cursive Script Calligraphy and Leng Mei's The Young Hercules, with up to fifty-three commendations of the piece by members of the palace and generals.
In the modern paintings section Xu Beihong's Stallions is an amalgamation of Western and Eastern painting techniques, using mainly Chinese brushwork to paint the physique of the horse, while using watercolour methods to depict the grass and the background. It is also particularly rare as it comes from the collection of Huang Junbi and was exhibited in Taiwan multiple times, as well as being published in Japan. Furthermore Qi Baishi's Bamboo, Spring Fun, as well as Zhang Daqian's early work Blue and Green Landscape are also rare masterpieces from the collection.

Lot 40, 30 November 1994, Fine Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy Christie's New York.

US$322,600-387,100