Beschreibung:

WANG JIANZHANG (CIRCA 1628-1644) THATCHED COTTAGE IN SPRING DRIZZLE Handscroll, ink on paper 81 x 31 cm (31 3/4 x 12 1/4 in.) Signed: Zhongchu Wang Jianjiang Two seals of the artist: Yan Tian Zhuang Ju Shi, Wang Jian Jiang Yin Dated spring, gengyin year (1650) Dedicated to Zixuan (Gong Weiliu, 16th-17th century) Twelve colophons, one each by contemporaries of the artist, including one by Jiang Cai (1607-1673), and one by Zhao Kaixin (?-1663), with a total of twenty-seven seals Last colophon by Gong Ben'ang (1821-1874), signed, with two seals Titleslip by Gong Ben'ang Frontispiece by Wu Zhiying (1868-1933, wife of Lian Quan) A total of thirty-one collectors' seals, including seven of Gong Ben'ang, and twelve of Lian Quan (1868-1932) and Wu Zhiying Note: 1. This scroll is dedicated to Zhixuan, Gong Weiliu, a good friend of Wang Jianzhang and the painter Yun Daosheng (1568-1655). Both Wang and Yun have painted their own scrolls of Thatched Cottage in Spring Drizzle for Gong, the Thatched Cottage being Gong's house. The scroll by Yun had since been lost. The present scroll by Wang had been kept in the Gong family for over two hundred years. For brief biography of Gong, see Zhongguo Lidai Renming Dacidian , Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 1999, p.1786 2. There are few extant paintings by Wang Jianzhang. This is not only the result of time, but that Wang never painted much unless it was for personal friends. While he was living, his paintings were already so rare that anyone with even a small sketch by Wang would treat it as a prized possession, to be enjoyed from time to time in small gatherings with close friends. The present scroll has colophons by twelve contemporaries of Gong and Wang, which further testifies to its authenticity. 3. Gong Ben'ang is a descendant of Gong Weiliu. He was related to Lian Quan and a large part of his collection of paintings and calligraphy fell into Lian's collection, Xiao Wanliu Tang, after Gong Ben'ang died.