IN THE MANNER OF LANG SHINING (GIUSEPPE CASTIGLIONE, 1688-1766)

Description:

China, 20th c.
130,5 x 80 cm (158,2 x 108,5 cm R.)
Two paintings depicting each a dog from the series “Ten Prized Dogs”. Ink and colors on paper, mounted and framed under glass. Each image shows a hunting dog: a black Xuezhualu (a Chinese greyhound) standing under a rosa-blossomed acacia tree and a brown Jinchixian (a Chinese greyhound) before a cypress tree. Each signed: "Haixi chen Lang Shining gong hui", seals: "Chen Shining", "gong hui", or "Shi", "Ning". Collectors' seals.
From an old European private collection, assembled prior to 1990 - Few creases, minor foxing
Lang Shining (1688-1766), born Giuseppe Castiglioni, was an Italian who became a Jesuit priest at the age of 19. At 27 he journeyed to China as a missionary and was called to the Imperial Court to serve the Emperor. He served as a court painter during the reigns of emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong. He is especially well-known for his rendering of figures, flowers, birds and larger-than-life size horses and dogs. His distinctive style made use of Chinese tools and materials with Western techniques, such as perspective and modelling, to paint largely Chinese motifs. The results were more emphatically realistic than the native Chinese tradition