Strange Pine in the Yellow Mountain
Zhang Shanzi Chinese
Not on view
This fan depicts Yellow Mountain (Huangshan), a famous scenic spot in Anhui Province that Zhang knew firsthand as well as through the paintings of such seventeenth-century Anhui masters as Mei Qing (1623–1697), whom he imitates here. Zhang painted this fan at the Master of the Fishing Nets Garden in Suzhou—his studio was located in the courtyard that later served as the model for the Astor Garden Court—where he resided for a time with his better-known younger brother, Zhang Daqian (1899–1983), and his pet tiger. The artist's poetic inscription reads:
The strange pines painted by the Mei family are unsurpassed,Father and son sit together practicing their brushwork in the sand.For a thousand ages Yellow Mountain's beautiful colors have been marvelous; How many people have been moved by its magical rosy clouds?
(Robert Hatfield Ellsworth et al., trans., Later Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 1800-1950, 3 vols. [New York: Random House, 1987], vol. 1, p. 138)
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