Dimensions: 75" L x 22" W


Bada Shanren, aka Zhu Da (1626-1705), Qing Dynasty, Chinese ink grisaille painting on paper. Hand painting with feature sharp brush strokes depicting birds within fruiting tree. Signed to by artist to upper left, Zhuda, followed by red signature seal. Set behind glass, wooden framed.

PROVENANCE:

From the collection of General Chen Qi (1912-2000), an artist, calligrapher, a prominent businessman and private antiques collector.
EDEN Fine Antiques Galleries is honored and proud to offer General Chen Qi's heirloom collections including unpublished Qi BaiShi paintings, Fu BaoShi, Zhang DaQian as well as his own calligraphy and paintings

Chen Qi (陳淇), who styled himself as “Cangquan” (滄泉）and “Yuquanshanren”（玉泉山人), is a modern 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:
Bada Shanren (born Zhu Da, ca. 1626-1705) 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 1930's, 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.

Over all in EXCELLENT Condition. 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.
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.