ARTIST(s): Huang Binhong 黃賓虹 (1865-1955)
ink and color on paper, laid to silk.
Mesurements: 81.5" H x 21"W; Inner painting Dim: 47-1/4"H x 9-3/4"W
Comment: A Chinese hand painting depicted a humble village within shanshui panoramic waterside scene of misty mountainous landscape. Showing themed title inscription on upper right, followed by artist's iron-red signature seals.
Reference: Sold for USD$9,500 on Aug 6, 2016 SUMMER ESTATES, ANTIQUES & FINE ARTS AUCTIONS Lot 165.

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:
Huang Binhong 黃賓虹 (1865-1955) was a Chinese art historian and painter born in Jinhua in Zhejiang province. He was the grandson of artist Huang Fengliu. He is considered one of the last innovators in the style of painting and is noted for his freehand landscapes. His painting style showed the influence of the earlier painters Li Liufang, Cheng Sui, Cheng Zhengkui, and Kun Can. He also had significance for creating several societies devoted to painting and calligraphy. Huang Binhong's work and ideas reached maturity during the 1930s and '40s. In his writings from this period, Huang advocated studying the Tang and Song works to trace the past, in order to initiate the future. He wrote "Huafa yaozhi" (Principles of Paintings) in 1934, in which he explained his five ways of using the brush and his seven ways of using ink. He derived his style from the close study of Chinese tradition and of nature. Huang Binhong was among the first to point out the significance of the Xing'an School of painting in his scholarly writings of the early 1940s. Beside the Xi'an School, Huang was also influenced by Dong Qichang. Despite these ancient influences, some of his painting techniques, especially his experiments with the effects of light and his autonomous use of brush and ink, converged with those of Western Impressionism and Modernism. He developed calligraphic strokes in his works, forming a richly integrated style in which he manipulated solid and void. At the end of his career, when his eyesight was failing, Huang Binhong nearly departed from figuration in his paintings, while still infusing them with the essential spirit and resonance of the natural landscape. When he was 80 he had his first solo retrospective in Shanghai.

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.