Mei Qing

MEI QING (1623-1697) Mountains Shrouded in Clouds Hanging scroll, ink and light colour on paper 190.5 x 61 cm. (75 x 24 in.) Inscribed with a poem and signed, with four seals of the artist Two collectors' seals 1 PROPERTY OF CHEN RENTAO-CHINESE PAINTINGS FROM THE KING KWEI COLLECTION Mei Qing (1623-1697) was born in Xuancheng, a county in Anhui province. His courtesy name was Yuangong and pseudonym Qushan. He passed the imperial provincial examination in 1654, the eleventh year of the Shunzhi era (1643-1661), and became a juren graduate. Mei practised Chinese painting in the style of the Yuan artist Wang Meng and was a great friend to the painter Shi Tao (1642-1707), influencing his early style. As both of them excelled at painting Mount Huang (or Huangshan), they were seen as prominent representatives of the Huangshan School of painting. In this painting, Mei inscribed that he had painted it in the style of Wang Meng. Despite claiming repeatedly of imitating the styles of Yuan masters, Mei created his own artistic world with bold, dynamic brushstrokes and clever uses of ink. He was also a brilliant poet and calligrapher.

MEI QING (1623-1697) Landscape Hanging scroll, ink and colour on silk 166.5 x 47 cm. (65 1/2 x 18 1/2 in.) Inscribed with a poem and signed, with two seals of the artist Provenance Previously owned by Sogo Shii, a Japanese entrepreneur (active 1912-1945). Literature No. 420, Kokka Magazine, Kokka Publication House, Tokyo, Taisho 14th year (1925), p.349

MEI QING (1623-1697) Running Streams and Endless Mountains A pair of hanging scrolls, ink on silk Each scroll measures 184.5 x 54 cm. (72 5/8 x 21 1/4 in.) Each scroll inscribed and signed, with a total of four seals of the artist (2)

ink and colour on paper, an album of ten leaves Inscribed, one leaf dated 1694, seals of the artist, and with collectors' seals