Mi Style Landscape
Hanging scroll, ink on silk, inscribed by the artist and signed Xuanzai with two artist's seals.
47 3/8 x 18 7/8in (120 x 48cm)
Footnotes
The brushwork style, atmospheric effects and dimensions of the present lot invite close comparison with another hanging scroll by Dong Qichang, Concealing Clouds and Scattering Rain (fig. 1), formerly in Low Chuck Tiew's Xubaizhai Collection, displayed in the landmark exhibition The Century of Tung Ch'i-ch'ang 1555-1636 in 1992-1993 in the United States, and is currently in the collection of the Hong Kong Art Museum. Both paintings feature spontaneous patches of ink wash for the foliage and a pronounced emphasis on rich tonal gradations. In the colophon by Liang Zhangju (1775-1849) on the mounting of the Xubaizhai painting, he expressed particular admiration for the work: "I have seen Hsiang-kuang's [Dong Qichang) aintings in the past; most were pure and refined, incomparable in quality, but often I objected to the fault of their being somewhat weak. Now, gazing at this work, the old brush very antique; the redness of the sky passes through the door... This is truly the most excellent masterpiece of Hsiang-kuang's entire life; one honestly can make of it something viewed as a divine work from the Sung or Yuan dynasties."
董其昌(1555-1636) 坐看雲起 水墨絹本 立軸
款識:山中宰相有仙骨,坐愛嶺頭生白雲。壁張此畫定驚倒,先請喚人扶著君。玄宰畫為,放于詞丈。
鈐印:太史氏、董其昌
本拍品的筆墨風格、氤氳氣韻及尺幅規格,皆可與董其昌另一幅立軸〈雲藏雨散〉()相互參照。該作原為劉作籌「虛白齋」舊藏,曾參與一九九二至九三年間在美國三地巡迴的重要展覽「董其昌世紀展(1555–1636)」,現為香港藝術館藏品。兩畫皆以隨性酣暢的墨點積染林葉青苔,富於墨色的濃淡及層次變化。虛白齋藏本裱邊有梁章鉅(1775–1849)題跋,對該作尤加推許,其言:「嘗見香光畫,多清秀絕倫之品,而往往嫌病於嫩。今觀此作,老筆沉古,紅光貫戶......此真香光平生第一傑製,直可作宋元神跡觀之矣。」