AFTER ZHAO MENGFU (1254-1322)
Li Yiji's Audience with Liu Bang
Scroll, mounted for framing, ink and color on silk, inscription after Zhao Mengfu with a signature and two artist's seals reading Zhao yin Mengfu, da ya, and 12 spurious collectors' seals.
7 3/4 x 23 1/2in (19.9 x 59.5cm), the painting only
Footnotes:
仿趙孟頫 酈食其見劉邦 設色絹本 鏡片

Provenance:
Spink & Son Ltd., August 1983
(described as Li Shih, commander of the Western Countries visiting Pei Kung)

來源：
Spink & Son Ltd.古董行，1983年8月

This painting tells the story of Liu Bang, the eventual founder of the Han dynasty and here having his feet bathed, and his initial meeting with Li Yiji in the year 207bce. When initially introduced as a Confucian scholar, Liu Bang refused his invitation, however, when Li Yiji announced himself as 'a Drunk from Gaoyang Gaoyang jiutu 高陽酒徒', the future emperor invited him for a discussion. This event is recorded in the Shiji, and their encounter would lead to the two men forming an alliance to overthrow the Qin Dynasty.