明 陈淳墨花怀馨明 陈淳墨花怀馨水墨纸本 手卷 一五三九年作26.7 x 403.9 cm. (10 ? x 159 in.)题识：花发怜多态，气华许竞夸。一枝山馆里，犹足醉琵琶。春暮辛夷发，未嫌花事迟。园林成绿遍，遂荐紫葳甤。众草栖白露，已早识秋期。蕙生孤竹根，香风朝夕吹。秫田欣有秋，白酒酿应熟。西风解人言，吟绽罗根叶。玉面婵娟小，檀心馥郁多。何须满色相，端欲去凌波。百卉未萌蘖，山葩破擸时。何须论色相，浓淡摠相宜。己亥（1539年）春日道复作于金阊舟中，时酒既醉，不知妍丑也。钤印：白阳山人、复父氏（七次）、陈氏道复（二次）、陈道复印（六次）、大姚、笔研精良人生一乐吴昌硕题跋：（文不录）。戊午（1918年）夏六月吴昌硕时年七十有五。钤印：吴俊之印、吴昌石李瑞清（1867-1920）题引首：墨花怀馨。白阳山人此卷萧闲淡逸，诚仙笔也。夏日读之，如坐梅花下嚼冰雪（也）。因以四字奉赞，并用荒率枯寂之笔篆之，勿与肉食人共读也。清道人。钤印：清道人、李鈢、阿梅、柜龠万枯曾熙（1861-1930）题签：白阳山人水墨花卉卷。戊午（1918年）吉月。曾熙。钤印：农髯藏印：汪文柏（1659-1725）：柯庭家传神品、屐研斋作、汪季青珍藏书画之印、季青真赏陈骥德：陈季子骥德平生真赏、良斋审定徐雯波：徐嫔、雯波其他：陈千里（骑缝印两次）注：陈淳（1483-1544）字道复，号白阳山人，生长在苏州仕宦之家。自幼有家学熏陶，初师沈周（1427-1509）、文征明（1470-1559），中年后风格渐见萧散闲逸。道复写折枝花卉自谓以造化为师，观物会意，文征明称其“种种皆有生意，所谓略约点染，而意态自足，诚可爱也。”晚年别出蹊径，逸笔由心，墨戏已臻化境。陈淳与徐渭并称“青藤白阳”，后世诸家多受其沾溉。　　1539年春日，五十六岁的陈淳于苏州舟上酒阑兴致，作此《墨花懐馨》花卉卷。全卷长逾四米，各绘折枝牡丹、辛夷、兰草、秋菊、水仙、山茶，每段之间皆以自题五言绝句相隔，诗、书、画融合为一。道复自题：“时酒已醉，不知妍丑也。”可见其不论画之工拙，不受世俗所拘。观其一花半叶，往往以淡墨铺陈，或钩画，或点染，充分展现其状物造型以及水墨灵活运用的高超技艺，清秀灵动至极。正如李瑞清（1867-1920）引首题：“白阳山人此卷萧闲淡逸，诚仙笔也。夏日读之，如坐梅花下嚼冰雪。” 　　清康熙间，《墨花懐馨》为桐乡藏书大家汪文柏（1659-1725）所有，至清末入鉴赏家陈骥德良斋庋藏。1918年吉月，曾熙（1861-1930）题签条，同年夏六月卷尾吴昌硕（1844-1927）有长跋增色，另有张大千夫人徐雯波女士藏印，可见流传有绪。FROM THE COLLECTION OF PROFESSOR WEN FONG (LOTS 822-823)A towering figure in the history of Chinese art, Wen Fong (1930-2018) was born in Shanghai and earned his doctoral degree from Princeton University, where he taught Chinese art history from 1954 until his retirement in 1999. Concurrent with his contributions at Princeton, he served from 1971 to 2000 as a special consultant to the Department of Asian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His vision shaped the Met’s collection of Asian art and drove important acquisitions, adding masterpieces to the Museum’s world-renowned collection. Professor Fong was a prolific scholar, educator and connoisseur who trained generations of art historians and contributed to seminal publications on Chinese art. Part of Professor Fong’s personal collection was offered by Christie’s in May 2016 and achieved exceptional results.Details CHEN CHUN (1483-1544)Flowers and CalligraphyHandscroll, ink on paper26.7 x 403.9 cm. (10 ? x 159 in.)Inscribed with six poems and signed, with seventeen seals of the artistDated spring day, jihai year (1539)Eleven collector’s seals including four of Wang Wenbo (1659-1725), three of Chen Jide (19th Century) and two of Xu Wenbo (b.1931)Colophon by Wu Changshuo (1844-1927), dated wuwu year (1918), signed with two sealsFrontispiece by Li Ruiqing (1867-1920), signed with four sealsTitleslip by Zeng Xi (1861-1930), dated wuwu year (1918), signed with one sealNOTE:Chen Chun (1483-1544) was one of the most influential flower painters of the Ming dynasty. Hailing from a prominent Suzhou family, he learned from the art of Shen Zhou (1427-1509) and Wen Zhengming (1470-1559) in his early years. His later intimate studies of branches and flowers, fully inspired by nature, are brilliant performances in brush and ink and penetrating portraits of the subjects. For Chen Chun, painting is an act of ink play from the heart. Together with Xu Wei (1521-1593), his expressionistic individualism transformed flower paintings for generations of artists that followed. In the spring of 1539, while in the mood for wine, the fifty-six-year-old Chen Chun painted Flowers and Calligraphy on a boat in Suzhou. Measuring over four metres long, it depicts peony, magnolia, orchid, chrysanthemum, narcissus and camellia, each section separated by five-character quatrains inscribed by the artist. The colophon concludes that he painted the scroll in such an inebriated state that he could ‘no longer tell the beautiful from the ugly’. The ethereal flowers and branches are laid out with light ink then meticulously outlined, their colouristic beauty demonstrating the artist’s superb command of ink and wash. Li Ruiqing (1867-1920) praised the otherworldliness of Chen Chun’s brushstrokes in the frontispiece: ‘viewing this painting in summertime makes one feel like tasting ice and snow under plum blossoms.’During the Kangxi period, Flowers and Calligraphy was in the collection of Wang Wenbo (1659-1725), a great book collector in Tongxiang. In late Qing, it was collected by the connoisseur Chen Jide. In 1918, Zeng Xi (1861-1930) inscribed the titleslip, followed by a long colophon by Wu Changshuo (1844-1927) dated June of the same year. It also bears the collector’s seals of Madame Xu Wenbo, wife of Zhang Daqian, further adding to its illustrious provenance. Literature Kei Suzuki ed., Comprehensive Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Paintings: Vol. 1 American Collections, Private Collection, University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, 1983, pp. I-170-171, pl. A18-037.Manni Liu, P.Y. Kinmay Tang Memorial Gallery at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Orientations, Hong Kong, April 1992.(Colophon by Wu Changshuo) Essays on Wu Changshuo, fouluji juan 4, Zhejiang People’s Fine Art Publishing, 2017, p.72.Zhu Aidi ed., Chronology of Chen Chun, Shanghai Shuhua Publication House, 2018, p.272. Conditions of sale