Selections

Secluded Orchids

Gu Mei (1619-1663/64), Qing dynasty
Handscroll, ink on paper, 22.5 x 551.8 cm

Gu Mei (style name Meisheng, sobriquet Hengbo), a native of Shangyuan in Jiangsu (modern Nanjing), originally was from a courtesan background but also learned poetry and painting, being especially gifted at music. Yu Huai in Miscellaneous Record of Banqiao wrote that Gu Mei was "beautiful in demeanor and elegant in appearance, her manner surpassing that of all others." During the Chongzhen reign (1627-1644), she became a concubine of Gong Dingzi (1615-1673).

Gu Mei excelled at painting orchids, her painting style imitating the "brush idea" of Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322). Her applications of the brush are light and elegantly untrammeled, the ink tones pure and refined. This handscroll (entrusted to the National Palace Museum from the Lanqian shanguan collection) is even more precious, because it also includes inscriptions by other notable ladies of talent at the time, including Huang Yuanjie (1614/20-before 1669), Cai Runshi (1616-1698), Jiang Jixi (active from the Kangxi to Yongzheng period [1662 to 1735]), and Jiang Gui (?-1762).

Orchids in Double Outlines

Ma Shouzhen (1548-1604), Ming dynasty
Handscroll, ink on paper, 24.7 x 220.8 cm

This handscroll features orchids and rocks interspersed in a very unusual composition. The abbreviated brushwork and hooked outlines for the slopes and rocks include texturing that varies between light and dark as well as dry and moist, expressing veins in the landscape elements. The orchids in the "baimiao" method of ink lines reveal skilled brushwork in the double outlines, the brush application varying clearly in terms of lifting and pressure but without losing its fluidity. The clumps of orchids, which appear to extend at ease, are untrammeled but not chaotic. The lively and natural ease of their momentum forms a unique personal manner without a trace of the effeminate air sometimes associated with ladies' paintings.

Wang Zhideng (1535-1612), a native of Suzhou in Jiangsu, wrote an inscription in cursive script at the end of this handscroll that reads, "In late autumn at the lady' s residence the rain is like dust, the brush rest is weighted on the books all together. A single plant extends in the shadows of Xiang, as if traversing the waves to free those of adornment." This testifies to the friendship that existed between outstanding talents in the courtesan world (Ma Shouzhen' s sobriquet was Xianglan ["Orchid of Xiang"]) and leaders of literary circles, such as Wang Zhideng.

Flowers and Butterflies

Ma Shouzhen (1548-1604), Ming dynasty
Folding fan, ink and colors on paper, 17.5 x 48 cm

Ma Shouzhen (minor style names Xuan’er, Xuanxuanzi; style name Yuejiao; sobriquet Xianglan) was a courtesan of Jinling (modern Nanjing) and one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai. She was quite famous for her poetry and painting, both at home and abroad; it is said that an envoy from Siam was dispatched to buy her painting for a hefty price, showing how valued her art was.

The painting here depicts a serene courtyard scene with butterflies and a moth flitting among dandelions, purple clover, and violets, the coloring refined and elegantly beautiful for an atmosphere of purity and peace. In the upper right is a five-character truncated verse by Wang Zhideng (1535-1612), a leading scholar at the time, that reads, "A few clumps of wild blossoms, the various kinds compete in beauty. Butterflies have therefore come, flitting about not wanting to leave." After Ma Shouzhen passed away, Wang wrote her biography and also twelve truncated verses lamenting her death.

Bodhisattva

Xing Cijing (1573-after 1640), Ming dynasty
Hanging scroll, gold paint on blue paper, 55.2 x 22.2 cm

Xing Cijing (sobriquets Putuan zhuren, Lanxue zhaizhu), a native of Linyi in Shandong, was the younger sister of the painter-calligrapher Xing Dong. She was also the wife of Ma Zheng, Left Provincial Administration Commissioner of Guizhou. Excelling at painting and calligraphy, she was gifted at bamboo-and-rock subjects as well as bodhisattva figures in fine lines. Also good at poetry, she is the author of Feifei cao.

This painting was done on very dark paper with gold lines to depict the Bodhisattva of Mercy, Guanyin. The bodhisattva is shown with a sublime appearance and holding rosary beads. Standing on a lotus petal, the deity' s hems flow in the breeze, expressing a light and graceful manner while also revealing a pure and elegant feminine presence. Above is a eulogy written in gold ink using regular script; appearing modest yet robust, it adds to a sense of pious devotion for this Buddhist deity.

Spring Silkworms Feeding on Leaves

Zhao-Wen Chu (1595-1634), Ming dynasty
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper, 78.5 x 32.7 cm

Wen Chu (style name Duanrong), a native of Changzhou in Jiangsu (modern Suzhou), was the daughter of Tribute Student Wen Congjian and the great-great-granddaughter of Wen Zhengming (1470-1559). The wife of Zhao Lingyun, since childhood she was precocious and gifted at painting, taking up the brush to record the flowers and insects she saw in daily life.

This painting was done in 1630, when the artist was 36 by Chinese reckoning. The work is pure and refreshing in its depiction of a fruit-laden mulberry branch with lush leaves and three crawling spring silkworms. The delineation throughout is delicately refined, the scene clear and orderly. The colorful arrangement of green leaves, red fruit, and white silkworms is skillfully done, giving the simple composition of this painting a pure and elegant visual effect.

Landscape

Lin Xue (fl. 17th c.), Ming dynasty
Handscroll, ink and colors on paper, 33.7 x 447.5 cm

Lin Xue (style name Tiansu) was a courtesan from Min (Fujian) who later resided at West Lake in Hangzhou. She was gifted at reciting verse, good at calligraphy, and excellent at painting. Dong Qichang (1555-1636), the preeminent connoisseur of the late Ming, wrote in his Anthology of Rongtai, "I have heard of ladies capable at painting. First was Lin Tiansu (Xue) and then Wang Youyun. Tiansu was an unequalled beauty and Youyun at ease, having a particular manner."

Women painters in traditional China rarely used complex forms of brush and ink to do landscapes, focusing instead on intimate scenes of more prosaic subjects. In this long landscape handscroll entrusted to the National Palace Museum from the Lanqian shanguan collection, Lin Xue's skill in painting is quite evident, making this work all the more rare. The painting depicts the scenery of connected waterways in the Jiangnan region with buildings and boats scattered here and there. The brushwork is elegantly untrammeled with an appealing grace. Admirers have likened it to the style of Ni Zan and Huang Gongwang, literati masters of the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368).