Page 12 - March 22 2022 Bonhams
P. 12
PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE INSTITUTION. A PORTION OF THIS
SALE IS FOR THE BENEFIT OF ASIAN ART CONSERVATION
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WEN ZHENGMING (1470-1559) The painting of bamboo with ink, sometimes accompanied by
Ink Bamboo orchid or rocks, was common practice by the Yuan Dynasty. With
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, inscribed by the artist and signed an economy of brushstrokes, and relying solely on brush and ink, an
Zhengming, with an artist’s seal Hengshan. artist could showcase his calligraphic technique in pictorial form.
55 x 18in (139.7 x 45.7cm)
Here Wen Zhengming depicts a few stalks of bamboo, with a
$60,000 - 90,000 further clump emerging from behind the briefly described rock.
In the inscription, the artist notes he painted this in his 83rd year
(on the Western calendar 1553). Among his late work, paintings
文徵明 竹石圖 水墨紙本 立軸 of ink cypress, pine and bamboo were favored subjects of Wen
Zhengming. Like this scroll, they embrace the austere, free of
unnecessary adornment.
10 | BONHAMS
