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PROPERTY FROM THE LINYUSHANREN COLLECTION
ANONYMOUS (ATTRIBUTED TO ZHANG JIZHI 1186-1263)
CALLIGRAPHY
Details
ANONYMOUS (ATTRIBUTED TO ZHANG JIZHI 1186-1263)
CALLIGRAPHY
Hanging scroll, ink on paper
46 x 76.2 cm. (18 1/8 x 30 in.)
CALLIGRAPHY
Hanging scroll, ink on paper
46 x 76.2 cm. (18 1/8 x 30 in.)
Further Details
Powerful and Bold, yet Elegant
The Japanese collector Linyushanren began collecting Chinese art in the 1970s and has been considered a connoisseur with an extremely discerning eye. Since 2015, Christie’s has held a series of four dedicated auctions, offering objects from his collection. Since many of the ceramics are extremely rare with good provenance, Linyushanren is synonymous with ancient and high ancient ceramics in the auction world. He was also a collector of Chinese paintings and calligraphy, with a focus on rare and exceptional works from
the Song and Yuan dynasties.
This work of the shoujian type, which is attributed to Zhang Jizhi, is quite different from the usual shoujian. A shoujian is the collected authentic calligraphy of a specific calligrapher that a connoisseur uses to authenticate ancient calligraphic works. Since it is usually made from cutting and pasting certain lines or characters, the majority of shoujian are fragmented pastiches. Lot 8020, however, is a rare piece as it was taken from a work of monumental size, trimming off the damaged top and bottom portions and preserving most of the original. While the remaining twelve large characters do not read smoothly, together they form a poem of lively joy and demonstrate the characteristics of Zhang Jizhi’s hand nevertheless. Zhang Jizhi (1186-1266), whose style name is Wenfu and sobriquet Chuliao, was a native of Hezhou (present day Anhui province). He held an official position in the Ministry of Agriculture. His calligraphy is rooted in the styles of the Tang dynasty masters: disciplined structure and forceful brush strokes. As an influential alligrapher of his time, Zhang Jizhi was renowned for his large-scale standard and running scripts. Many of his extant works are monumental in size, such as Song of Twin Pines in Standard Script at the Beijing Palace Museum and Excerpt from “Song of Leyou Park” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (see Illustration).
There are three characters in each vertical line and each character has the size of the opening of a rice bowl. Following the unique qualities of Yan Zhenqing and Huang Tingjian, the form is balanced and square, the brushwork is strong and confident, and the qi (the spiritual ether) of the calligrapher is pervasive. Using a brush lacking fullness to write large characters entails pressing the brush hard on the paper, forcing a sharper contrast in line thickness and more exaggerated lines. Zhang Jizhi’s adherence to Yan Zhenqing’s calligraphy, amid the popularity of Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi, and their followers during the Southern Song dynasty, further illustrates his unique character.
The Japanese collector Linyushanren began collecting Chinese art in the 1970s and has been considered a connoisseur with an extremely discerning eye. Since 2015, Christie’s has held a series of four dedicated auctions, offering objects from his collection. Since many of the ceramics are extremely rare with good provenance, Linyushanren is synonymous with ancient and high ancient ceramics in the auction world. He was also a collector of Chinese paintings and calligraphy, with a focus on rare and exceptional works from
the Song and Yuan dynasties.
This work of the shoujian type, which is attributed to Zhang Jizhi, is quite different from the usual shoujian. A shoujian is the collected authentic calligraphy of a specific calligrapher that a connoisseur uses to authenticate ancient calligraphic works. Since it is usually made from cutting and pasting certain lines or characters, the majority of shoujian are fragmented pastiches. Lot 8020, however, is a rare piece as it was taken from a work of monumental size, trimming off the damaged top and bottom portions and preserving most of the original. While the remaining twelve large characters do not read smoothly, together they form a poem of lively joy and demonstrate the characteristics of Zhang Jizhi’s hand nevertheless. Zhang Jizhi (1186-1266), whose style name is Wenfu and sobriquet Chuliao, was a native of Hezhou (present day Anhui province). He held an official position in the Ministry of Agriculture. His calligraphy is rooted in the styles of the Tang dynasty masters: disciplined structure and forceful brush strokes. As an influential alligrapher of his time, Zhang Jizhi was renowned for his large-scale standard and running scripts. Many of his extant works are monumental in size, such as Song of Twin Pines in Standard Script at the Beijing Palace Museum and Excerpt from “Song of Leyou Park” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (see Illustration).
There are three characters in each vertical line and each character has the size of the opening of a rice bowl. Following the unique qualities of Yan Zhenqing and Huang Tingjian, the form is balanced and square, the brushwork is strong and confident, and the qi (the spiritual ether) of the calligrapher is pervasive. Using a brush lacking fullness to write large characters entails pressing the brush hard on the paper, forcing a sharper contrast in line thickness and more exaggerated lines. Zhang Jizhi’s adherence to Yan Zhenqing’s calligraphy, amid the popularity of Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi, and their followers during the Southern Song dynasty, further illustrates his unique character.