Page 112 - 2020 November 30 Bonhams Rev. Richard Fabian Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy Hong Kong

JIN CHENG (1878-1926) 金城（1878-1926）
Birth name Shaocheng, courtesy names Gongbei, Jingfu and Gongbei, 原名紹城，字鞏北、經郛，一字拱北，號北樓，又號藕湖。浙江歸安
sobriquets Beilou and Ouhu, Jin Cheng was a native of Nanxun of 南潯人。其父金燾，同治十年（1871）秀才，在上海從事蠶絲、當
Guian County, Zhejiang Province. His father Jin Tao was a xiucai 鋪、地產等生意，並富收藏。金城幼嗜書畫，兼工篆刻及古文辭。一
scholar in 1871 during the Tongzhi period, and was based in Shanghai 九〇二年，赴笈英國倫敦大學國王學院，並有歐美十國遊歷的壯舉。
and ran silk, pawnshop, and real estate businesses, also amassing 一九〇五年學成返滬，任租界「會審公廨襄讞委員」，因「黎黃氏
an extensive art collection. Since childhood, Jin Cheng was fond of 案」處理出色，擢調京師。民國後當選眾議院議員，先後任內務部檢
calligraphy, painting, seal engraving and classical Chinese literature. In 事、國務院秘書等職。
1902, he studied at King’s College London, England and travelled to
over 10 countries in Europe and the Americas. In 1905, he returned 在金城的推動下，一九一四年紫禁城成立古物陳列所，並對外開放。
to Shanghai and served as a Chinese Magistrate of Mixed Court for 一九二〇年，與周肇祥在北京創辦中國畫學研究會，以「精研古法、
the International Settlement. Because of his brilliant performance in 博采新知」為宗，羅致京津地區畫界俊彥，招生授課。又與陳師曾、
handling the “Mrs. Li Huang case”, he was promoted to Beijing. 周肇祥等組織了四次中日繪畫聯展。金城為民初北京畫壇領袖，又是
南北畫界、中日畫界聯繫的主要紐帶。他提倡以古為新，以宋元為
During the Republic Period, he was elected as a member of the 宗，曾大量臨摹古物陳列所和私家珍藏歷代名作，其山水綜合前人，
House of Representatives, and successively served as a procurator 丘壑嚴整，筆墨繁複，著色清麗；花鳥臨仿與寫生兼而有之，以工為
of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Secretary of the State Council. 主，間有寫意。著有《十八國遊歷日記》、《藕盧詩草》、《北樓論
Under his facilitation, the Gallery of Ancient Relics in the Forbidden 畫》、《畫學講義》等。
City was set up in 1914 and opened to the public. In 1920, he and
Zhou Zhaoxiang founded the Chinese Painting Research Association
in Beijing, aimed at “carefully study of ancient methods to attain and
discover knowledge and new areas of research”. They recruited
famous artists in Beijing and Tianjin to enroll students into classes. Jin
Cheng, together with Chen Shizeng and Zhou Zhaoxiang, organized
four joint exhibitions of Chinese and Japanese paintings. Jin was the
leader of the Beijing painting circle in the early Republic era, and also
served as the main communication link of that between the North
and the South, and China and Japan. He advocated seeing the new
in antiquity in reference to old masterpieces from the Song and Yuan
dynasties. He had copied a large number of famous works from the
Gallery of Ancient Relics and private collections, and his landscapes
integrated styles of previous old masters. Hills were orderly but with
complex brushwork, with colors brillantly executed. Flowers and birds
were both reinterpreted and sketched, mainly employing meticulous
brushwork but sometimes with a freehand style. His publications
include Diary of Travels to 18 countries, Poems by Oulu, and Theories
on Paintings by Beilou.

108 | BONHAMS