‘THE ELEGANT PURSUIT OF LIN HEJING’, BY FAN ZENG (BORN 1938), DATED 1983

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‘THE ELEGANT PURSUIT OF LIN HEJING’, BY FAN ZENG (BORN 1938), DATED 1983 Inscriptions: To the left, ‘Elegant Pursuit of Lin Hejing’, dated ‘year of Guihai (corresponding to 1983)’, ‘the Master of Baochong Studio, Fan Zeng of Jiangdong, in the capital [Beijing]’, with three seal marks, ‘Baochong zhai’, ‘Fan Zeng’s painting seal’, and ‘Figural seal’. China. Ink and watercolors on paper. Mounted as a hanging scroll in a silk brocade frame and with two hardwood handles. Finely painted in expressive brushstrokes, depicting the celebrated Song dynasty poet Lin Hejing standing beneath a flourishing plum tree. With his hands clasped behind his back, he gazes towards the viewer, the flowing sash and earrings accentuated in a rich egg-yolk yellow, creating a striking contrast with the muted shades of the figure and blossoms. Dimensions: Image size 95.8 x 34.8 cm, size incl. frame 192 x 50.6 cm Fan Zeng (b. 1938) is a contemporary master of traditional Chinese painting, best known for his skillfully executed figural works. Born in Jiangsu, he studied history, literature, painting, and calligraphy, before enrolling at Nankai University. In 1957, he attended the Central Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied painting under Wu Zuoren, Li Keran, Jiang Zhaohe, and Li Kuchan. In addition, he has received numerous awards in design and painting. From 1962, Fan worked at the National Museum of Chinese History. In the late 1970s, he taught at the Central Academy of Arts and Design. In the 1980s, Fan founded the Oriental Art Department at Nankai University and became the dean of the department in 1993. At the age of 63, he was elected as the head of the Nankai University Museum of Antiquities and graduate advisor in both the Fine Arts and Literature departments. His works fuse elements of landscape, flower-and-bird, and figure painting, as well as forms of poetry and calligraphy. His paintings of ancient figures are famous for their simple yet vivid style and vigorous brushstrokes. He held solo exhibitions in Japan throughout the 1980s and participated in various exhibitions in Asia. In 1984, a permanent museum was built in Japan to house his works. Lin Hejing was the posthumous name given to Lin Bu (967-1028), a celebrated Northern Song poet and recluse. He spent much of his later life in seclusion on Gushan Island in West Lake, Hangzhou, where he devoted himself to poetry, the appreciation of plum blossoms, and raising cranes. He became particularly famous for his poetry on plum blossoms, while the saying that he regarded plum blossoms as his wife and cranes as his sons (mei qi he zi) became a lasting motif in Chinese art and literature. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 25 November 2014, lot 1291 Price: HKD 1,480,000 or approx. EUR 210,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the similar subject and brushwork. Note the much larger size (136 x 66.5 cm). Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 14 September 2019, lot 1413 Price: USD 35,000 or approx. EUR 39,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the similar subject and brushwork. Note the larger size (83.8 x 50.7 cm).

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