An Album of Landscapes

Shen Zhuo is a painter in Qing dynasty who was born in Wujiang, Suzhou. He was formerly called Shen Luo, also known as Shen Chun, courtesy name Zhubin, pseudonym Mohuwaishi and Mohuke. He travels between Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province, making a living on selling artworks. He is good at landscape painting. At first, he imitates Wang Xuehao and Xi Gang. Later, he turns to Wen Zhengming, and paints some portraits as well.
This is an album of eight leaves on paper decorated with gold paint, combining light red with blue and green. He models on masters from Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, with vigorous brushstrokes, presenting a steep and forceful view. For example, one leaf of the album is modeled on Zhao Mengfu, a famous painter in Yuan Dynasty, painting landscapes with blue and green pigments. It depicts two literati talk under pine trees. The half of the fifth leaf in the album is modeled on a fan leaf painting from Monk Shangrui (as known as Tongxindaoren), who is active during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing dynasty. And Shen finishes the other half on his own. The rest leaves are believed to be modeled on masters such as Zhao Danian, Wang Meng, Ni Zan and Wen Zhengming. They illustrate Shen’s extraordinary abilities of imitating ancient masters.