Page 90 - Christie's Fine Chinese Paintings March 19 2019 Auction

In his very long life, Zhu Qizhan experienced and embodied the trials and triumphs of his country.
He was born into a wealthy merchant family in Taicang, Jiangsu in the fnal decade of the Qing dynasty.
There he began to learn Chinese painting and calligraphy and studied his family’s art collection. Seeking
to modernize the tradition, he switched to oil painting, focused on European masters and went to Japan
to learn more. Back in China, with the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Zhu Qizhan
turned back to Chinese traditional paintings (guohua). During the Cultural Revolution, he was forbidden
to paint and heavily criticized. Finally, however, in his old age, his own style that uniquely combined
elements of China’s past with aspects derived from the West, all informed by his own experiences and
times, blossomed. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was heralded at home and throughout the world, with
exhibitions in Shanghai, New York, Singapore, Japan and London. Active until his 105th year, Zhu Qizhan
infused his paintings with his gentle spirit, his prodigious talent and his extensive and varied experiences.

在他漫長的一生中，朱屺瞻同時經歷並代表了考驗與成就。清朝末年，朱屺瞻出生於江蘇太倉的一個富
商之家。從家族的藝術收藏中，他開始學習書法與繪畫。為了追求使中國傳統繪畫現代化，他轉向油
畫，專注於歐洲繪畫大師，並赴日本留學。當他再度回到中國時，中華民國已經建立，朱屺瞻再度開始
繪製傳統國畫。在文化大革命期間，他遭到嚴重的批鬥，並被迫棄筆作畫。然而，在他年老之際，他獨
特的個人風格—合併中國古畫與西洋畫，瀰漫著他的人生經歷—終於大放異彩。在一九八〇和一九九〇
年代，他享譽國內與國際。從上海，紐約，新加坡，日本，到倫敦，都可以看到他的展覽。朱屺瞻一直
到一百零五歲都十分活躍地創作，不斷地在他的作品中注入他驚人的天賦與廣泛多變的人生歷練。

The Shuishi Xuan Collection was established in 1980. From the beginning, the
owners were convinced that Zhu Qizhan was brilliantly creative, a seminal artist
of 20th century China. Initially, they were able to make contact with Master Zhu
through a letter left at the Shanghai Painting Academy and frst met him in person
when he traveled to New York in 1986. Up until the time of the artist’s death, they
continued to see him regularly in Shanghai. They remain close friends with the artist’s
family.

水石軒收藏成立於一九八〇年代初期。從一開始，藏家們便深信朱屺瞻是一位匠心獨具、卓爾不群，對
二十世紀中國畫壇有巨大影響的畫家。最初，藏家們與畫家是通過一封留在上海美術專科學校的書信建
立起了聯繫。1986年，朱屺瞻前來紐約時，他們第一次見到了這位畫家本人。此後，他們定期前往上海
拜訪朱屺瞻，一直到朱屺瞻去世。他們與朱屺瞻的家屬仍然是摯友。

RAVINE LANDSCAPE
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and color on paper
38 x 22 in. (96.5 x 56 cm.)
Dated January 1974
高山幽谷 設色紙本 鏡框 一九七四年作
88