ARTIST(s): Wu Changshuo 吴昌硕 (1844-1927)
ink and color on paper, laid to silk.
Mesurements: 89" H x 26.5"W; Inner painting Dim: 52"H x 16-1/8"W
Comment: A Chinese hand painting depicted branching of Lychee abundant. Showing themed title inscription on left, followed by artist's signatures and iron-red seal. Matted on creme-brown silk border. The lychee was a symbol for love, beauty, well-being, and sensuality in ancient China. The syllables li-zhi (an alternative spelling/pronunciation of lychee) can also mean to produce money, and to have an heir (especially a son). Li is also a homonym for li, which means intelligent or clever (source).
Reference: Sold for USD$6,500 on Aug 6, 2016 SUMMER ESTATES, ANTIQUES & FINE ARTS AUCTIONS Lot 168.

PROVENANCE:
From the collection of General Chen Qi 陳淇 (1912-2000) who styled himself as Cangquan (滄泉 and Yuquanshanren 玉泉山人) an artist, calligrapher, a prominent businessman and private antiques collector. For more information about General Chen Qi's Biography, please refer to this link:
http://chen-qi.net/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Qi_(collector)

Chen Qi (陳淇) who styled himself as Cangquan (滄泉 and Yuquanshanren 玉泉山人) is a collector.Chen Qi was born in Fujian on March 8, 1912 in a merchant family. He was well educated in traditional culture since childhood. Chen Qi began to learn literacy from his grandfather since 1916, and had studied enlightenment readings such as Three Character Classic, Thousand Poems, Book of Filial Piety, and Confucian classics, etc.. He also studied Tang Kai (one of the Chinese traditional calligraphy scripts originated from Tang Dynasty) as daily calligraphy class.In 1927, Chen Qi was enrolled in a Christian school.In 1928, Chen Qi dropped out of school due to illness. While recuperating at home, he read books and newspapers, and gained a deeper understanding from his communications with businessmen from the South of the devastated and weakened old Chinese society. Just like other youths full with aspirations in the turbulent time, Chen Qi determined to transform China and save Chinese people from the crisis. In 1932, Chen Qi went to Japan and was enrolled in the famous Imperial Japanese Army Academy, a military school founded in 1868. Imperial Japanese Army Academy was committed to Militaristic Spiritual Education and had successfully trained a large number of senior generals participated in the war of aggression again China later on. Many famous modern Chinese generals also graduated from Imperial Japanese Army Academy, such as Cai E, Ying Heqin, Li Rujiong, Tang Enbo, etc.While Chen Qi was in Japan, he not only met his wife, Qiuben Jiumeizi, who accompanied him by a lifetime (moved to China with Chen Qi later on and changed her name to Lin Yachun), in May 1935, he also got to know Chinese painter, Fu Baoshi, who was holding a Exhibition at the time. It was the first exhibition Fu Baoshi held in Japan. Both staying in foreign country, the two became friends right away. In June of the same year, Fu Baoshi went back to China due to his mother's serious illness (his mother already passed away after his return). Two months later, Chen Qi returned to China as well and was invited by Fu Baoshi to visit Nan Chang, where Fu held his first personal exhibition in China. In 1935, Chen Qi was appointed by National Revolutionary Army to teach in Republic of China Military Academy, also known as Huangpu Military Academy. He became Deputy Director of Training and was granted the rank of Major General. During his tenure, he had made great contribution through training of military personnel. Just like what the founder of modern China, Sun Zhongshan, had said, we found this school to lead the students to become the foundation of revolutionary army. You will be the future elites of revolutionary army. And this is the way that lead to our success in revolution. During his term as director, Chen Qi developed extensive social contacts not only in politics, but also in business, literary and art circles. He also concentrated in calligraphy, reading and painting.In January 1936 (the 25th year of the Republic Era), Chen Qi went to Tianjin (original destination was Beijing but stayed in Tianjin for a few days) to attend an exhibition in Tianjin Yong'An Restaurant, held by a group of painters including Zhang Daqian, Zhang Shanzi, Xiao Qianzhong, Hu Peiheng, Xu Yansun, Yu FeiAn, He Haixia, etc.. During the trip, besides political and business affairs, Chen Qi had made contacts with celebrities in literary and art circles, including Mei Lanfang and Qi Baishi. Although working in military during the turbulent time, Chen Qi was still deeply affected by Confucianism and traditional cultural education he received since childhood. He continued studying in painting and focused on collection of various arts and antiques from various Chinese Dynasties.In 1955, after arriving at Taiwan, Chen Qi was appointed as military official of the embassy in Indonesia. He attended multiple international affairs and meetings on behalf of Nationalist Government (Guomin Government), and often travelled between Taiwan and Indonesia due to business and political reasons. In Taiwan, he had close personal relationships with Pu Xinyu, Zhang Daqian, Huang Junbi, Xu Fuguan, Hu Shi, and Yu Youren, etc.. He was also a frequent guest of Jiang Jieshi and Song Meiling. During his work in Indonesia, Chen Qi got to know Chinese painters such as Wu Zishen and Yan Wanyu, and built close personal relationship with them. They often send each other letters and poems to maintain contacts. In 1965, Chen Qi left his job in Indonesia, and travelled frequently to mainland China during the 80s. He was generous and made multiple contributions to nonprofit programs and organizations in his homeland, including building schools, water conservation, and newspaper industry. Meanwhile, he continued studying calligraphy, especially during his old age, and enjoyed simple life.

LOT NOTES:
Wu Changshuo 吴昌硕 (September 12, 1844 - November 29, 1927) born Wu Junqing, was a prominent painter, calligrapher and seal artist of the late Qing Period. Wu was born into a scholarly family in Huzhou, Zhejiang. In his twenties, Wu moved to Jiangsu Province and settled down in Suzhou. Prior to the collapse of the Great Qing, he served as an imperial official in Liaoning. Initially, he devoted himself to poetry and calligraphy with a strong interest in early scripts. He also led the Xiling Society of the Seal Art, an academic organization for Hangzhou-based seal artists. Only later did he consider himself a painter associated with the "Shanghai School." As a painter, he was noted for helping to rejuvenate the art of painting flowers and birds. He considered carving seals and doing paintings to be integrated to each other. His work garnered him fame and was highly regarded in Japan.

Natural imperfection on the medium (paper or silk), regardless from any major damages; includes light blooms, discoloration and minor fading. The bidder assumes responsibility for ensuring that the condition of the item(s) meets with their satisfaction prior to bidding. Any condition statement is given as a courtesy to a client, and is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. EDEN Galleries shall have no responsibility for any error or omission. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of aging.