Select Characters from Huaisu's "Autobiography"

Xie Zhiliu Chinese

Not on view

In 1969 Xie began to study the calligraphy of Huaisu (725–ca. 799), whose Autobiography is the most celebrated example of wild cursive script in Chinese art. Xie wrote an essay on the master in 1970; this calligraphy therefore can be dated tentatively to that period.

In these two album leaves, rather than copy the entire text, Xie excerpted individual characters that interested him. In the photograph of the original text (displayed above), the three characters outlined in red were the models for the last three characters in the first column (on the far right) of Xie's copy.

Select Characters from Huaisu's "Autobiography", Xie Zhiliu (Chinese, 1910–1997), Two sheets; ink on paper, China

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Select Characters from Huaisu's
Select Characters from Huaisu's

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