ATTRIBUTED TO ZHAO MENGFU (1254-1322) Blue and Green Landscape with Travelers

ATTRIBUTED TO ZHAO MENGFU (1254-1322) Blue and Green Landscape with Travelers Ink and mineral pigments on silk, hanging scroll, with an inscription signed Zhao Mengfu, and dated Yuanzhen 2nd year (1296) with two artist's seals and a fragment of a collector's seal. 69 5/8 x 33 5/8in (177 x 85.5cm) Footnotes: （款）趙孟頫（1254-1322） 湖上暮歸 設色絹本 立軸 款識：春蔭柳絮不能飛，雨足蒲芽綠更肥。正恐前呵驚白鷺，並騎款段繞湖歸。元貞二年（1296）三月二十四日，余與宋齊彥學士於湖上暮歸，時天作陰將雨，青山遠近，可愛而可畫。明日於鷗波亭中作此，以盡餘興也。子昂畫並題。 鈐印：趙子昂氏、趙孟頫印 鑒藏印一：漫漶難辨 Provenance: Purchased from a Bel Air, CA Estate Published: Ze, Lang (1747-1813). 'San Wan Liu Qian Qing Huzhong Huachuan Lu,' completed in 1795. In Zhao Dai Congshu (Collectanea of the Glorious Dynasty), edited by Zhang Chao (1659-1709), Yang Fuji (1747-1820), Shen Maode et al., first edition 1697, reprinted with additions in 1844, 'Gui Ji,' Vol. 32, p. 3. 來源： 購於加州貝萊爾市（Bel Air）遺產拍賣 著錄： 迮朗（1747—1813）著，《三萬六千顷湖中畫船錄》, 成書於1795年；收錄於張潮（1659-1709）、楊復吉（1747-1820）、沈楙惪等編《昭代叢書》，初版1697年，迮朗文為1844年重刊時收錄,癸集，卷第三十二，頁三 A LOST LANDSCAPE FROM THE YUAN DYNASTY With the fall of the capital Lin'an (present day Hangzhou) in 1276, the final collapse of the Southern Song dynasty was an inevitable certainty. In the north of China, the Yuan dynasty had been established five years earlier in 1271, and by the end of the decade, the Mongol conquest of China was complete. Over the course of the next century, residents of China were subjects of the nomad conquerors, whose language, culture and manner of governance stood in stark contrast to the familiarities of the past. The formidable class of educated elite, whose Confucian education prepared them for a lifetime of government service, found themselves disenfranchised from the system and bureaucracy they had been trained to run. Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322) was a princely descendant of the imperial lineage that ruled the Song and profoundly affected by the national upheaval. As a learned and accomplished scholar, Zhao Mengfu's knowledge was vital to the new government, and when he was called to serve, he relocated to the Yuan capital Dadu (present day Beijing), despite many of his southern peers who preferred exile, refusing to cooperate with the Mongol invaders. Within this scenario, Zhao Mengfu emerged to become one of China's most impactful and important artists, whose legacy would be called upon by countless painters and calligraphers in the centuries that followed, including his own family, with his younger brother Zhao Mengyu, his sons Zhao Yong (1289-1362) and Zhao Yi (14th century), and grandson Zhao Lin (d. 1367). Concurrent with the profound political changes in China, the idea of painting as an expression of the self was becoming increasingly prevalent. For centuries prior calligraphy assumed this role, but after the fall of the Song, the art of painting evolved to become a similar vehicle, a means to offer personal, subtle commentary through visual imagery. For Zhao Mengfu and his artistic contemporaries, employing deliberate visual archaisms in their paintings and calligraphy allowed them to nostalgically reference a glorious, albeit distant past. In his calligraphy, Zhao Mengfu often referenced Jin (265-420) and Tang (618-907) dynasty models, thus forming a synthesis of styles; for his paintings, he relied on deliberate archaistic references, with the palette and brush techniques evoking the golden age of the Tang dynasty. To a 13th century audience, these antiquarian references would have been patently obvious. In the present lot, a landscape on silk dating to the 13th/14th century, the brilliant luminosity of blue and green colored washes creates an otherworldly appearance, and recalls the color scheme of Tang dynasty painting. The blue (石青) is derived from the stone azurite and the green (石綠) is prepared from malachite, and together these two mineral pigments would endow the Blue/Green landscape style with its name. However, in addition to the blue and green hues, other mineral pigments are also employed to colorize this image. The earthen banks that line the water are rendered in umber (赭石), a variety of iron oxide that yields a distinct terracotta hue. In contrast to their surroundings, the foreground figures and horses are highlighted in lead white (鉛粉), the brightness spotlighting the horses' and figures' presence amid the landscape. The vivid mineral pigments imbue the painting with a magical aura, and despite the 700 years of age, the brilliant colors are little diminished, in contrast to the amber-hued patina of the silk. In addition to the palette that mimics an antique style, a second overt archaism employed in this painting is the 'fish-net' waves in the foreground. Neatly drawn with fine, rhythmic strokes from the artist's brush, this pattern defines the water's movement with repeated, overlapping lines. When this landscape was painted, artists and connoisseurs were not only aware of the Tang dynasty foundations for this approach, but intentionally promoted the antique appearance as a statement of dissent on the current political reality in which they were living. It is often stated that Zhao Mengfu's greatest contribution to future generations of Chinese painting is the emphasis of brushwork in the creation of a painting. Deeply informed by calligraphic study, the artist masterfully made use of the versatility of the brush in rendering a pictorial image. In this scroll, the conscientiously painted foreground trees are individually enhanced with unique, appropriate foliage, and the artist carefully denotes each tree with its own leafy personality. The foliage for the middle ground trees uses a second vocabulary of brushwork, and the bare tops of the foreground trees, and scattered groups of reeds demonstrate the full range of brushwork a calligraphically trained artist possessed. In a similar fashion, the small travelling party consisting of two gentlemen riding horses, accompanied by two attendants on foot are a minute detail in this monumental composition, but the energetic brushwork distinguishes their presence. Although dwarfed by the scale of the huge trees and faceted hills that envelop them, the figures are set apart by the delicate, wiry brushwork that possesses an animated energy. The careful precision of the detailed rendering of the men and their horses contrasts with the natural world surrounding them. In the deep distance, spits of land are painted in expertly layered washes on the silk, as the far banks and remote hills quietly fade into the mist. Underneath the blue and green washes, the mountains are constructed with long texture strokes. Each line that composes this complex composition is distinguishable and readable on its own. To an informed eye, these individual brushstrokes are also archaisms, citing from the tradition of Chinese painting. For example, the bare, defoliated foreground treetops reference the Li Cheng (919-967) / Guo Xi (1001-1090) tradition of the 10th-11th century, and the intertwined ground strokes which underlay the blue green washes of the hills, are a nod to the approach of Dong Yuan (active 934- 962) /Juran (active 960-980) of the Southern Tang dynasty (937-976). A calligraphic inscription compliments the scene, casually inscribed in running script, and dating the painting to the Yuan dynasty, second year of Renzhen (1296), with the signature and seals of Zhao Mengfu. However, it is likely that the seals and the inscription were added later as an embellishment, in an attempt to directly connect the painting to the hand of Zhao Mengfu. Although the calligraphy and seals do not pass close scrutiny, the painting itself is convincing as a 13 or 14th century work. Succes For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing