Artist: Wu Hufan (1894 - 1968)
The Plum Blossoms Cross The River In Spring
Ink and color on paper, Yisebiao mount, Vertical Axis Hall Hanging Scroll
Painting (Sight): Length: 174 cm, Width: 85 cm
Dated: In the Summer of Yi You Year (1945)
Signed/Seal(s): Signed, with Three Seals

PROVENANCE:

These Important Paintings collection all originated from one prominent collector, spanning from Lot-95 to Lot-160 (Day 1), continuing from Lot-402 to Lot-456 (Day 2).

LOT NOTES:

Wu Hufan (1894 - 1968) was a leading traditional painter, known as a collector and connoisseur, as well as for his landscape works. Born in Suzhou in the Jiangsu province, Wu was the grandson of calligrapher and painter Wu Dacheng, and, from a young age, was able to study the works of masters such as the "Four Wangs" of the Qing dynasty. Wu spent the early part of his life in the Shanghai region, and, following the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, taught at the Shanghai Institute of Chinese Painting. He went on to become one of the city's most important connoisseurs, writing extensively about the works in his collection. Wu was known for his elegant brushwork, as well as his delicate ink tones and textured rendering of mountains and trees. His work was firmly rooted in tradition, characterized by clearly defined foregrounds, middle grounds, and distances, and made more modern by his use of color. In particular, Wu's work is noted for its lack of any reference to the dramatically shifting political landscape of 1950s and 1960s China. Although Wu focused primarily on landscape paintings, he was also interested in drawing, and executed a number of flower and bamboo works.