Page 386 - Chinese Works of Art Chritie's Mar. 22-23 2018

ANOTHER PROPERTY
1036
A RARE LARGE POLYCHROME FRESCO
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
The fresco is painted with a female warrior wearing long fowing robes standing in a ferce pose, with left
arm raised and right hand holding a sword, standing beside two female attendants, all standing amidst
clouds, with details picked out in raised gesso.
The fresco 57 x 39 in. (144.8 x 99 cm.), wood frame
$40,000-60,000

PROVENANCE
Acquired in Japan prior to the 1940s.
The style of painting in this fresco recalls that of the mid-eighth century temple painting style. Largely
ignored by the court and literati circles, this ‘fowing water and scudding clouds’ (xingyun liushui)
manner, reminiscent of the Tang dynasty painter Wu Daozi, was ideal for painting religious fgures.
Unlike earlier modes stressing precise contours, the whirling spiritual energy of this brushwork gives
the impression of qi, or inner life. This animated style has been popular with builders and decorators of
Buddhist temples ever since.
明 彩繪人物壁畫

(another view)

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