Wang Chen 1720-1797

signed Pengxin Wang Chen, dated dinghai (1767), the ninth lunar month, autumn, with a dedication, with two seals of the artist, peng xin shu hua, wang chen si yin, and four collectors' seals, song nian suo cang, song xia qing zhai, xi an, chang ting zi sun. Colophon by Shao Songnian (1848-1924), signed Xi'an laoren, dated bingchen (1916), the second lunar month

Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese paintings: Second Series, Vol. 1, American and Canadian Collections, complied by Teisuke Toda and Hiromitsu Ogawa, University of Tokyo Press, April 1999, p. I-234, pl. A48-015

Artist's inscription:
Layer upon layer of cloudy mountains, layer upon layer of trees: in which peak lies unseen the luxurious palace? How can I move with you to a pavilion, and under the bright moon listen to the resounding bell? The blurry mist and setting sun darken the mountains. Through the empty valley a moon-reflecting stream flows. At this moment I cannot bear to hear passing geese, for I pity Song Yu, who found autumn most sorrowful. In autumn in the ninth month of the dinghai year (1767), painted as a gift to Master Wenyu at the Yuci Studio. Pengxin Wang Chen.

Colophon:
Zining was the great-grandson of Sinong (Wang Yuanqi, 1642-1715) and mastered the family style. In his landscapes he used a dry texturing brushwork that was full of elegance, but in his later years it became somewhat too dessicated. He painted the present scroll at the age of forty-eight. Although it features dry texture strokes, it feels incomparably supple and fresh, evoking the style of Huanghe shanqiao (Wang Meng, 1308-1385) as if it were a collaboration with the master. In the second month of bingchen year (1916), recorded by Xi'an laoren.