Page 173 - 2021 March 15th Fine Chinese Paintings and Works of Art, Bonhams NYC New York

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF MICHAEL GALLIS

197
REN QI (DIED 1861)
Lotus and Rock
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper, inscribed by the artist and
signed Bishan jushi with an artist’s seal reading Ren Qi Yin Xin.
53 1/2 x 12 1/4in (135.8 x 31cm)
$5,000 - 7,000

任淇 荷花 設色紙本 立軸

Provenance
China Guardian, 13 February 2004

Published
Gallis, Michael and Ma Xinle, Michael Gallis Collection of Chinese
Paintings Maike Gailesi Zhongguo hua shoucang: yige Xifang xuezhe
de Zhonghua wenhua zhilü, Tianjin Renmin Meishu Chubanshe,
2019, p.114
來源
中國嘉德，2004年2月13日

出版
馬欣樂主編，《邁克·蓋勒斯中國畫收藏：一個西方學者的中華文化之
旅》，天津人民美術出版社，2019年，頁114

Ren Qi, who also used the names Ren Zhujun and Zhenzhai, was a
native of Xiaoshan, Zhejiang, south of the cultural center of Hangzhou,
across the Qiantang river. Ren Qi was also an uncle and mentor to
Ren Xiong (1823-1857), a fellow Xiaoshan native and founder of the
influential Shanghai School Haipai of painting in the 19th century and
the oldest of the “Four Rens”.

Although extant paintings by Ren Qi are very scarce, the present scroll
offers a case study of the deepest roots of the Shanghai School.
Numerous aspects of this painting indicate Ren Qi adopted the stylistic
approach of the Late Ming painter Chen Hongshou (1599-1652). The
contoured rock depicted with a strong line, the ‘boneless’ method for
the floating leaves, the heavy stylization, the formal and somewhat stiff
brushwork, and the subtly naturalistic discoloration on the tips of the
leaves, are all reflections of the earlier master’s technique.

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