Lu Ji’s Essay on Literature
Wen Zhengming was one of China’s defining calligraphers. A passionate art collector and student of the past, Wen developed signature manners across different script types of calligraphy, from the formality of regular script to the ease of semicursive to the swashbuckling confidence of cursive. This late work shows Wen’s working in his highly ordered small regular script, a perfectly balanced combination of structure, angularity, and fluidity.
Artwork Details
- 明 文徵明 小楷書文賦 卷
- Title: Lu Ji’s Essay on Literature
- Artist: Wen Zhengming (Chinese, 1470–1559)
- Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
- Date: dated 1544 and 1547
- Culture: China
- Medium: Handscroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 9 1/16 x 46 3/8 in. (23 x 117.8 cm)
Overall with mounting: 9 5/16 x 288 1/16 in. (23.7 x 731.7 cm) - Classification: Calligraphy
- Credit Line: Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988
- Object Number: 1989.363.63
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Wen Zhengming
dated 1543
Wen Zhengming
ca. 1540
Wen Zhengming
datable to 1506–10
Multiple artists/makers
Wen Zhengming
mid-16th century
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