Wang E.

Wáng È ( Chinese王 諤) lived around 1500 and was a Chinese painter from the Ming period .

His landscape paintings refer stylistically to the painting of the Song period and are based on the famous painter of the Song Academy Ma Yuan , who was active at the time of the Southern Song Dynasty. Similar to his role model, Wang E used the technique known as Axthieb-cun ( cun "brushstroke") to visually trace sharp-edged rock faces with hard brushstrokes. Just like Ma Yuan, his compositions emphasize the diagonal. In addition, Wang E was oriented towards the court painter of monumental landscapes of the Ming dynasty and predecessor Li Zai, who was closer in time .

Wang E, who was born in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, a traditional place of painting, worked as a court painter within the palace district in the Hall of Humanity and Wisdom during the reign of Emperor Hongzhi and his successor Zhengde . Recognized in his mastery by both emperors, Hongzhi called him " Ma Yuan of our time ". Zenghde awarded him the high symbolic title of battalion commander of the brocade dress guard . Since 1510 the pictures have adorned Wang Es with an imperial seal awarded to him.

Consideration of the work: "In search of the plum blossom in the snow"

Wang E: Looking for the plum blossom in the snow

The picture was painted on a hanging scroll measuring 106.7 × 61.8 cm in ink and colors on silk and was created during the reign of Hongzhi (1487–1505). It bears the painter's seal and two imperial seals. Its title is In Search of the Plum Blossom in the Snow and shows a wintry high mountain landscape with a dark sky, in which a rider and his retinue descend on a narrow mountain path on a valley lying in fog. The narrative title of the picture refers to the Tang poet Meng Haoran , who is said to have sought his poetic inspiration while riding a donkey in such snowy landscapes. Although the picture does not name an explicit poem, the mention of the "plum blossom" in the title illustrates the poetic reference that the picture creates with an outstanding motif from Chinese literature. In poetry and story, the plum blossom is particularly popular as the first blossom of the year and a harbinger of spring in Asia.

Technically and artistically particularly appealing, the painter succeeded in creating the gray shades of the ink washings, which contrast with the prominent drawing of the jagged, dark ledges and tree tops.

In this and similar pictures, Wang E succeeds in uniting the monumentality of the landscape painting of the Song Academy with the folk and poetic imagery of his time, which explains his extraordinary popularity at the imperial court.

The work is located in the Beijing Palace Museum .

literature

• Roderick Whitfield (translated by Herbert Butz): Pictures at the court of the Ming Dynasty . P. 70ff. In: Lothar Ledderose (ed.): Peking Palace Museum. Treasures from the Forbidden City . Insel Verlag. Frankfurt am Main. 1985. ISBN 3-458-14266-5

Web links

Commons : Wang E  - Collection of Images