Landscape in the style of Ni Zan and Huang Gongwang

Wang Yuanqi spent much of his time at the Manchu court in attendance at the Changchun Garden (mentioned in the inscription on this painting). He also maintained an active relationship with the eccentric, disaffected yimin ("leftover people"-that is, those who were loyal to the fallen Ming dynasty). Wang's associations with them exposed him to new artistic movements and contributed to his being the most innovative of the orthodox masters of the early Qing dynasty.

Wang Yuanqi often integrated in his work the styles of the two great Yuan dynasty masters, Ni Zan (1301-1374) and Huang Gongwang (1269-1354). Wang's composition, a sparse riverscape divided by a wide expanse of water, is modeled on Ni Zan's work (see the earlier artist's painting in Gallery 18). But the mountain masses and rocks, built up of accumulated brushstrokes and dry washes, are typical of Huang Gongwang's work. The use of large areas of untouched surface as a compositional device is one of the more innovative aspects of Wang's paintings. In part the inscription on this painting reads:

Jinglu, my old friend and grandson of my paternal aunt . . . has received an official promotion and is on his way to begin his new duties, so I made a great effort, working in the style of Ni [Zan] and Huang [Gongwang], to send my congratulations to him posthaste.