In this winter landscape, the succession of scenes, presented from a constantly shifting perspective, moves between distant views and close-ups in a dynamic progression. The juxtaposition of leafy pines and bare deciduous trees, the gleaming snow on the terrain and treetops, and darkened sky evoke the chill of the season.
Fu Shen is a major modern artist working in the classical mode of Chinese scholarly art. This work embodies his achievement in all its three branches, namely, painting, calligraphy, and seal-carving. This painting is exemplary of the way in which traditional Chinese painters learn their craft by copying the works of ancient masters. It is a 20th-century artist Fu Shen’s copy of a Qing dynasty (1644–1911) court painter Wang Hui’s interpretation of a Ming dynasty (1368–1644) scholar-artist Shen Zhou’s work. Most interestingly, as all the connoisseurs point out, Fu’s painting captures the essence of Shen’s style, which demonstrates the conscientious and successful emulation of Wang Hui as well as Fu Shen.
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Inscription: Label strip (2 columns in semi-cursive script, dated 2013):
Winter Landscape after Wang Hui’s Interpretation of Shen Zhou painted by Fu Shen at the age of 26 sui. Self-inscribed by Junyue [Fu Shen] in the spring of the guisi year (2013).
傅申廿六歲臨王翬倣沈周雪景山水卷 君約自署。癸巳春
Frontispiece (10 columns in large and small characters in semi-cursive script, dated 2013):
Master Shigu’s [Wang Hui, 1632–1717] imitation of the White Stone Old Man’s [Shen Zhou, 1427–1509] winter landscape, which Junyue, Fu Shen, imitated in his turn.
In his old age, Shen Zhou adopted the sobriquet “White Stone Old Man.”
Junyue, the old Fu, self-inscribed the frontispiece in the guisi year (2013) after forty-one years. In fact after fifty-one years.
Inscription on painting (1 column in standard script, dated 1962):
In the renyin year (1962) at the age of 26 sui.
壬寅時年廿有六。
Colophons
1. 1 column in semi-cursive script, undated, following Jiang Zhaoshen’s (1925–1996) colophon:
Mr. Jiang was at the age of 42 sui when he inscribed this scroll. The style of the calligraphy is different from that of his late works.
江郎題此時年四十二，與晚期書風又自不同。
2. 2 columns in semi-cursive script, undated, following Xie Zhiliu’s (1910–1997) colophon:
Five years after he inscribed this scroll, Mr. Xie died in 1997 at the age of 88 sui. His early style grew out of Chen Hongshou’s (1599–1652) calligraphy, which differs a great deal from this. Junyue [Fu Shen] added a note.
謝老題此五年後，于一九九七年以八十又八高壽仙逝。其早年書出陳老蓮，與此大異。君約補記。
3. 6 columns in standard and semi-cursive scripts, dated 2013:
[Jiang] Zhaoshen inscribed this scroll in the bingwu year (1966). Like me, he entered the Palace Museum in the previous year, i.e. 1965, and studied and enjoyed calligraphies and paintings every day. That was why he said face to face with the painting Lofty Pavilion. Luo Shenfu, who holds a doctorate from Harvard University, refers to Luo Tan [Thomas Lawton, born 1931] who was to become Director of the Freer Gallery of Art and the Sackler Gallery in Washington. He is still alive. As I inscribed the frontispiece 47 years later, I made a note of this too. Junyue, the old Fu, in the guisi year (2013).
4. 33 columns in semi-cursive script, datable to 2017:
Jiaoyuan [Jiang Zhaoshen] wrote a colophon to this scroll at the Palace Museum, Taipei, in 1966, the bingwu year, saying, “Shitian’s [Shen Zhou] brushwork is powerful and spirited. The line and the ink integrate into one. It demonstrates his abundant talents that lie beyond the reach of Wen [Zhengming, 1470–1559] and Tang [Yin, 1470–1524]. Gengyan [Wang Hui] made a copy of it, which Junyue [Fu Shen] imitated in his turn hundreds of years later. His brushwork appears directly linked to Shen’s without any gap, which is extraordinary.” Mr. Xie saw this scroll 31 years later in the renshen year (1992) and noted, “Upon seeing this scroll, I vividly sense Shen Zhou’s emotion and ideas. Only after seeing the earlier colophon did I realize that it was a copy of Wang Hui’s work, though its brushwork derived directly from Shen Zhou. Junyue attained this level of brushwork in his twenties. Isn’t he “someone that must have been a painter in his previous life” as the saying goes.” I saw these two colophons again 25 years later, and feel ashamed that I have neglected my art for over fifty years and failed to live up to the senior artists’ praise. But I have turned to authentication and research for fifty years and accomplished a few things, which should somewhat compensate for it. On the day that winter begins [November 6–8] in the dingyou year (2017) my student Zhao Shuo (born 1983) suggested to give this scroll to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. At the time Mr. Mike Hearn has succeeded Professor Wen Fong to lead the department. I am also overjoyed that this scroll has found the right home, so I happily inscribed this at the end to record the story in detail while Jefu was playing the zither beautifully. Junyue, Fu Shen, wrote this at the Cuixia Mountain Villa to the north of Los Angeles at the age of 81 sui.
[Summary]: Shen Zhou’s brushwork is powerful and spirited. The line and the ink integrate into one. It demonstrates his abundant talents that lie beyond the reach of Wen Zhengming and Tang Yin. Wang Hui made a copy of it, which Fu Shen imitated in his turn hundreds of years later. His brushwork appears directly linked to Shen’s without a gap, which is extraordinary. I got to see this scroll when Mr. Thomas Lawton borrowed it to make slides. It is the Dragon Boat Festival of the bingwu year (1966) when I am viewing Fang Congyi’s (ca. 1301–after 1378) Lofty Pavilion [in the National Palace Museum] at Waishuangxi.
Upon seeing this scroll, I vividly sense Shen Zhou’s emotion and ideas. Only after seeing the earlier colophon did I realize that it was a copy of Wang Hui’s work. Though it follows Wang Hui in compositional principle, its brushwork derived directly from Shen Zhou. Junyue attained this level of brushwork in his twenties. Isn’t he “someone that must have been a painter in his previous life” as the saying goes. Inscribed by Xie Zhiliu, the Vigorous Old Man, in the winter of the renshen year (1992).
3. Zhao Shuo 趙碩 (Eros Zhao, born 1983), 4 columns in clerical and semi-cursive scripts, dated 2017:
[Summary]:
This scroll by my mentor Fu Shen demonstrates his grasp of Shen Zhou’s art. Shen Zhou is a pivotal link between the earlier Song and Yuan dynasties and the later Ming and Qing dynasties, which is borne out by this work.
Fu C. Y. Shen Chinese, Taipei, 1962–2018; donated to MMA
Fu C. Y. Shen 傅申. Fu Shen xueyi lu 傅申學藝錄 (The art of Fu Shen). Vol. 2, Huihua juan, yi jiu wu qi–yi jiu qi er nian 繪畫卷, 一九五七–一九七二年. Shanghai: Shanghai shuhua chubanshe, 2013, pp. 66–85.
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