Three-Character Couplet in Seal Script

Wu Changshi (original name Jun; style names Changshi, Cangshi; sobriquets Foulu, Kutie, and others), a native of Anji in Zhejiang, was leader of the Xiling Seal Carving Society in Hangzhou and a modern master of painting and calligraphy in the Bronze and Stone School. Widely adopting from various sources, he was quite learned as an artist. In calligraphy, he excelled at the Stone Drum script, plumbing the depths of antiquity for innovation and transformation. He combined the scripts from bronzes, ceramics, and ancient writing to create a strong and forceful style that is also simple and rich. His bold and moist yet incisive manner rises and falls freely with great power to give his works a unique style and character. This couplet by Wu Changshi from the age of 71 by Chinese reckoning is a compilation of characters from the Stone Drum inscriptions. It reads, “Joy for bronzes and steles, an affinity for painting and calligraphy.” The lines are heavy and dense, the forms steady but skillfully arranged.