17th C Early Qing Dynasty, Bada Shanren ( 八大山人; 1626-1705) Chinese traditional scroll painting, ink on paper laid to silk, hanging scroll. Signed.
Stunning Hanging-scroll painting of a Red-crowned crane by Bada Shanren (1626-1705). A very well-balanced painting showing a great attention to detail. The thick dark marks are contrasted with thin faint lines, there is both swift and slow movement throughout, which gives a lively appearance. The crane is known to resemble immortality and it is believed that some Daoist immortals could shapeshift into these exhilarating birds. Bada Shanren was noble at birth and grew up in a time where the Ming dynasty was being overthrown by the Manchurians. This tumultuous time in which Shanren was nurtured lent to his palpable emotion that was expressed in splendid artwork and calligraphy. His style is eccentric and unique pulling from the influence of painters such as Chen Chun and Xu Wei. A common stylistic thread that can be found in Shanren’s work is his use of a wet-wash technique. Although this style of painting may not be the most complex it was still used in a masterful way by skillfully capturing the essence of the subject matter. Shanren’s unmistakable insignia adorns the top-left corner and followed by two red seals. Another single red seal can be found in the bottom-right corner.


Dimensions: Scroll Height: 96 1/2" Width: 35 1/8" Painting Height: 55 1/8" Width: 28 1/4"

PROVENANCE:
From the heirloom collections of Wu Guozhen (吳國楨; October 21, 1903-June 6, 1984) was a Chinese political figure and historian, government official who served as mayor of Hankow (1932-1938), mayor of Chung-king (1939-1941), political vice minister of foreign affairs (1943-45), mayor of Shanghai (1946-1948), and governor of Taiwan (1950-1952) and the former Chairman of Taiwan Provincial Government. He resigned in 1953 and went to the United States.

K.C. Wu lived in the United States where he served as professor of Chinese history at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia. During his time in the United States, he wrote various works, including a detailed analysis on Chinese culture in the context of mythology and early history in his book The Chinese Heritage.

Wu is remembered mainly for his vital role in the formation of a liberal modern Taiwan and his anti-communist beliefs typical of a member of Kuomintang, but he is also remembered for his brave anti-Kuomintang rhetoric and turbulent disagreements with the more Russian-styled second President of Taiwan.

The Collections of Wu Guozhen (吳國楨) presented and offered up to auctions
ON DAY-1: from Lot-97 through Lot-127, continued from Lot-219 through Lot-255.
ON DAY-2: from Lot-354 through Lot-377, continued from Lot-451 through Lot-480.


LOT NOTES:
Bada Shanren ( 八大山人; 1626-1705) born Zhu Da, was a Han Chinese painter of ink wash painting and a calligrapher. He was of noble lineage, being a descendant of the Ming dynasty prince Zhu Quan. Art historians have named him as a leading painter of the period.
Bada Shanren, a purported child prodigy, began painting and writing poetry in his early childhood. About the year 1644,[citation needed] when the Ming emperor committed suicide and the Manchu army from the north attacked Beijing, the young Han Chinese man sought refuge in a vihara. Because he was a Ming prince, the dynastic upheaval created a great amount of uncertainty for his position in society. As years passed and the Qing dynasty became more firmly established, there was less and less insecurity among the Qing regime about remaining Ming loyalties and possible future rebellions. Due to these more stable circumstances, after 40 years, Bada Shanren deemed it acceptable to leave the monastery and to re-enter day-to-day life among society. In the aftermath of a nervous breakdown that could have been staged to avoid retribution for his family background, Zhu Da abandoned his monastic life and developed a career as a professional painter, adopting a series of descriptive pseudonyms, most notably Bada Shanren by which he is most often known today. Bada Shanren is believed to have a mental illness. He is said to have screamed and made weird sounds while painting. The stylized vertical writing of his pseudonym Bada Shanren looks like the characters for laugh and cry, thus by signing his paintings he implied his confusion and feelings of grief for the fate of his country and home.
His paintings feature sharp brush strokes which are attributed to the sideways manner by which he held his brush. In the 1930s, Chinese painter Zhang Daqian produced several forgeries of Bada Shanren's works but they are easily spotted by the trained eye, because the modern copies were softer and rounder. Yale University scholar Fred Fangyu Wang was a major collector of Bada Shanren paintings from the 1960s until his death in 1997.

Natural imperfection on the medium (paper or silk), regardless from any major damages; includes light blooms, discoloration and minor fading. Consider normal due to the ages.

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