Instructions on Painting Plum Blossoms
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.清 何紹基 隷書畫梅訣 卷 紙本
Handscrolls were rarely used by Epigraphic School calligraphers, whose oversized characters and high-impact graphic forms generally called for larger formats. He Shaoji breaks with that trend here, inscribing a text on the proper technique for painting plum blossoms in clerical script, with two large characters per line. Handscrolls are intended to be viewed on a table at arm’s length, and He Shaoji’s powerful, archaic forms and bold brushwork would have been particularly impressive at such a close range. His wavering line, extreme variations of thick and thin in the brushwork, and willingness to saturate the paper after reloading his brush are all typical of his style, a kind of old-fashioned and casual rusticity.
Handscrolls were rarely used by Epigraphic School calligraphers, whose oversized characters and high-impact graphic forms generally called for larger formats. He Shaoji breaks with that trend here, inscribing a text on the proper technique for painting plum blossoms in clerical script, with two large characters per line. Handscrolls are intended to be viewed on a table at arm’s length, and He Shaoji’s powerful, archaic forms and bold brushwork would have been particularly impressive at such a close range. His wavering line, extreme variations of thick and thin in the brushwork, and willingness to saturate the paper after reloading his brush are all typical of his style, a kind of old-fashioned and casual rusticity.
Artwork Details
- 清 何紹基 隷書畫梅訣 卷 紙本
- Title: Instructions on Painting Plum Blossoms
- Calligrapher: He Shaoji (Chinese, 1799–1873)
- Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Date: undated
- Culture: China
- Medium: Handscroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions: Overall with mounting: 12 1/8 × 309 1/4 in. (30.8 × 785.5 cm)
- Classification: Calligraphy
- Credit Line: Lent by Guanyuan Shanzhuang Collection
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art