The Art of a Gentle Breeze: A Special Exhibition of Painting and Calligraphy on Folding Fans, Period 2016/7/1 to 2016/9/25, Galleries 208、212
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Folding Fans by Rulers and Officials

Starting with the Qing dynasty Kangxi emperor (Aisin Gioro Xuanye, 1654-1722) and his fondness for calligraphy, folding fans with imperial writing became an elegant gift for court officials. During the reign of Gaozong, the Qianlong emperor (Aisin Gioro Hongli, 1711-1799), the ruler and his officials did many works of painting and calligraphy on folding fans. At the same time, an effort was made to organize the court collection of folding fans, and no effort was spared to repair and remount them.

Palatial Buildings in the Manner of Qiu Ying

  1. Yang Dazhang (fl. 18th c.), Qing dynasty

"Ode on Attaining the Isles of Immortality" from the Imperial Brush

  1. Qianlong emperor (1711-1799), Qing dynasty
  2. Folding fan, ink (and colors) on paper, 20 x 59.3 cm

Yang Dazhang was a court painter during the Qianlong reign whose works date between 1766 and 1791. He excelled at painting figural and bird-and-flower subjects. According to records from the archives of the imperial workshops, Yang Dazhang did a folding fan painting in 1768. This folding fan in its original mounting has a painting by Yang in imitation of palatial buildings by the Ming artist Qiu Ying (ca. 1494-1552). The brushwork is fine and the landscape adorned with blue-and-green colors on gold decorative paper, increasing its opulent beauty. The other side of the folding fan features an inscription by the Qianlong emperor from 1786, when Yang Dazhang was still alive. The ribs are affixed on top of the calligraphy on the golden paper, highlighting the inlaid floral patterns on the ribs while dividing the lines of characters, the design and production of this fan quite skillfully done.

Palatial Buildings in the Manner of Qiu Ying

Landscape

  1. Chen Huan (fl. 1593-1631), Ming dynasty

Imperial Copy of a Su Shi Letter

  1. Qianlong emperor (1711-1799), Qing dynasty
  2. Folding fan, ink on paper, 16.5 x 47 cm

The Qing court collection included many folding fans of the Ming dynasty, the painting on one side of this fan done by Chen Huan (style name Ziwen, sobriquet Yaofeng) of the Ming, a native of Suzhou in Jiangsu. Chen was a professional painter who excelled at landscapes; he studied the style of Shen Zhou and admired the works of Hou Maogong (1522-1620). In his painting here, a scholar boats among large rocks along the shores of a river. On the left are lush trees close to the viewer, the figure in the boat appearing quite small. The trees and rocks are outlined and washed in a manner similar to the styles of Shen Zhou and Wen Zhengming in the Wu School.

Under the Qianlong emperor in the Qing dynasty, the old collection of folding fans was reorganized and new works sometimes mounted on the other side. Here, Chen Huan's landscape is mounted with the Qianlong emperor's calligraphy for an "Imperial Copy of a Su Shi Letter," forming a two-sided folding fan that combines art of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Landscape