A Daoist and a woman with a child in a boat

Description:

China, 16th/17th c.
Bildmaß 149 x 101 cm, Montierung 224 x 119,6 cm
In the style of Wu Wei (1459-1508). Ink and light colours on silk. Artist’s signature: ‘Xiaoxian’. One of the artist’s seals, illegible.
German private collection - Wu Wei, also known as Xiaoxian (‘Little Immortal’), came from a poor background, but as a child he was able to study in a wealthy household alongside the family’s children and learn to paint. He became so famous that during the Hongzhi era (1488-1505) he was twice appointed court painter at the imperial court and rose to become the emperor’s favourite. His works follow the tradition of the ‘Zhe School’, which combines flat ink washes with an angular, calligraphic brushstroke. His figure painting in particular is characterised by an extremely expressive, almost unrestrained brushwork, yet he achieves a detailed, realistic depiction. The half-naked, wildly gesticulating older man in the boat, who dangles his feet223;e dangle in the water, and the woman with a small child at her breast, pulling on a string, seem as if they have been taken straight from life.