Signed Wu Hou

Description:

China, dated 1348, perhaps Ming period or later
123,5 x 58 cm (140,5 x 73,2 cm R.)
Winter visit from a friend. Ink and light colours on silk, framed behind glass. Signature of the artist on the right margin: "In the eighth year of Ära Zhizheng (1348) painted by Wu Hou". A seal of the artist, barely legible: "Wu ...". A collector's seal lower left.
Klaus Nierhoff Collection (1926 - 2011), acquired from Paul Brandt Amsterdam, 13 December 1965, lot 743 (copy of invoice preserved)
In the midst of snow-covered mountains, a scholar sits at his desk in his studio under two gnarled pine trees and waits for his guest. His servant next to him is already stirring the ink. Two other servants are out in the courtyard breaking off some fresh branches of plum blossom to decorate the studio for the guest. The expected guest is already standing in front of the estate gate, supported by his servant boy. He is wearing thick winter clothing with hats, like the master of the house, and high wooden sandals. Snow piles up on the roofs and windows, painted with opaque white pigment. The astonishing detail and delicacy in the depiction of the figures shows an unexpected quality of the painting.
Wu Hou came from Hangzhou and was active in the Yuan period (1279-1368). He is said to have copied the paintings of the imperial academy of the Song period with astounding success. This painting is also executed in the style of the old masters of the Song period, with recognisable stylistic references to Fan Kuan, Ma Yuan and Li Tang. The snow-covered mountain landscape is very convincingly depicted against the darkly coloured painting ground - Traces of age, minor rest.