Page 99 - Christies March 15 2017 Fujita Museum

HAN GAN
AS CATALOGUED IN

SHIQU BAOJI

HORSE

The court painter Han Gan is best known for his portraits of Emperor Xuanzong’s (r. 712-756)
numerous Ferghana horses. These steeds, which were originally imported from what is now
Uzbekistan as early as the Han dynasty, were seen as important symbols of imperial martial power. As
evidenced by contemporaneous tomb mural paintings and reliefs, these equines tended to have full,
rounded bodies with relatively slim legs. Further, here can also be seen the technique that is found
in tomb murals of the time of creating the horse’s form with iron-wire outlines, flled in with pigment.
Looking at the horse’s belly and legs, the artist has used lighter pigments that accentuate the animal’s
form, a practice imported from the West during this period.

Han Gan’s mastery lay in his ability to reach new heights of realistic representation by infusing
his horses with a sense of individuality and spirit. It was said that he preferred to spend time in
the imperial stables studying the live horses rather than base his works on earlier horse paintings.
Despite its bulk, this horse’s delicately raised back hoof, ghostly white mane, and quietly watchful
expression convey a docile and graceful temperament. As described in Du Fu’s poem “A Song of
Painting: To General Cao Ba”, Han Gan’s painted horses were particularly feshy and painted without
“bone,” in contrast to the style of his teacher Cao Ba. As Robert Harrist pointed out in Power and
Virtue: The Horse in Chinese Art, this debate over the ideal manner of depicting horses continued up
to present times (New York, 1997, p. 78).

韓幹，唐代宮廷畫家，以描繪唐玄宗（712-756年在位）御廄中的汗血寶馬馳名。汗血寶馬產自今屬烏茲別
克斯坦的西域大宛，自漢朝起引入宮廷，被視為國家地位與身份的象征。汗血馬形態矯健，四肢修長，步伐
輕 盈，英 姿 在同期 壁 畫、器皿 上可見。此 圖馬 身以 纖 細 遒 勁 的 鐵 線 描出，後稍 加 渲 染，腹 部 與 腿 部 著色 略淺
而具體積感，突顯雄駿的姿態，頗有受西畫影響的意味。

韓 幹 畫 馬的 過 人 之 處，在 於其 極 為 寫 實 的 畫 法。他 不 喜單 純 摹 仿 前人 畫 馬的 作品，而常到馬廄 中 細 心 觀 察
馬的生活習性及真實形態，以馬為師。此幅畫面上的馬雖然肥壯飽滿，然而舉蹄動作輕盈，鬃毛雪白，體態
炯炯有神而神態自若，氣度軒昂。杜甫《丹青引贈曹將軍霸》中云：“韓幹早入室，亦能畫馬窮殊相。幹惟畫
肉不畫骨，忍使驊騮氣凋喪。”正如學者韓文彬（Robert Harrist）在《力量與美德：中國藝術中的馬》一
書中所言，中國藝術歷史中關於不同描繪馬的方式的辯論，一直延續至當代（華美協進社出版，1997年，第
78頁）。

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