Page 17 - September 20 2021 Chinese Works of Art Bonhams NYC

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF
MARK S PRATT, WASHINGTON, D.C.
107
YUAN JIE (LATE MING DYNASTY)
Landscape after Ni Zan, 1614
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, inscribed by the artist
and dated jiayin xiao chun, followed by one artist’s
seal Yuan Jie zhiyin, with two collectors’ seals.
19 3/4 x 9 1/4in (50.1 x 23.5cm)

$8,000 - 12,000
袁階(楷) 山水 水墨紙本 立軸 一六一四年作

Provenance:
Acquired in Hong Kong, 1962

Exhibited:
“Perfect Imbalance, Exploring Chinese Aesthetics”,
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, March 11,
2009 - September 8, 2009

來源:
1962年購於香港

展覽:
皮博迪博物館，”Perfect Imbalance, Exploring
Chinese Aesthetics”，麻省塞勒姆，2009年3月11
日-9月8日

As stated in the Zhongguo Meishujia Renming
Cidian, the artist’s name is also written as Yuan Kai,
while some sources, such as Qin Zuyong’s Tongyin
Lunhua record the artist as Yuan Jie. A native of
Wuxi, Jiangsu province, Yuan Jie studied landscape
painting with Zhang Yuanchun (1546-?).

In this landscape, created during in the late Wanli
reign, the artist re-interprets Ni Zan’s (1306-1374)
cool and placid style. Adopting the earlier artist’s
signature motifs--the solitary uninhabited pavilion,
the one river-two banks composition, the foreground
tree stretching to tag the far bank--Yuan Jie
captures the quiet stillness for which Ni Zan was
hailed. Executed in an understated manner void of
color, the painting extols the literati aesthetic.

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