FISHING IN GREEN DEPTHS

The two inscriptions on this painting by Yanling Shanqiao Sui Chu and Wenjiang Deng Jiuyuan, contemporaries of the artist Wang Meng, both make reference to Wang. In the poem by Sui Chu, the last two lines speak of Wang Meng turning into an old man with snow white brows, indicating that Wang was still alive when the inscription was written. The collector's seal in the lower left-hand corner belongs to Lu Yuan (1458-1526). Lu was a native of Changzhou, Jiangsu, with sobriquet names Jinqing and Shuicun. He is little known as a collector now, but from an inventory of the pieces in his collection, Lu must be recognized as a great collector with a good eye and excellent collection. The calligraphic paintings Lu collected included Zixu tie by Huai'su, Yan Zhengqing's Chuchen Chuangao Sheng tie, Yu Shinan's Princess Runan's epitaph, Chu Suiliang's Nikuan zan, and also pieces by Mi Fu, Su Shi, Cai Xiang, and Zhao Mengfu. Paintings in his collection included those by Wang Wei, Zhou Wenju, Dong Yuan, Fan Kuan, Zhenag Zeduan's Qingming Shanghe tu, Xia Gui's Changjiang Wanli tu, Ma Yuan's Shui tu, and so on. The Yan Zhengqing piece, Ma Yuan's Banfeng tu, Xia Gui, and Qingming Shanghe tu, all carry colophons by Lu Yuan himself. Almost all of these paintings are now housed in museums around the world and are considered most invaluable. That the present painting by Wang Meng carries with it a collector's seal of Lu Yuan simply reinforces not only its provenance but its importance and reliability as a great work of art. Jiang Biao was also a great collector and connoisseur of the Qing period. For a brief biography, see Zhongguo Meishujia Renming Cidian, Shanghai Renmin Meishu Chubanshe, 1981, p. 239.