Collection of the University of Pittsburgh Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA. Anonymous Gift
2000.01.08
Landscape No. 427
1982 (Date created)
Ink
Painting
Scrolls
29.75 in W1.75 in D(Object)
Notes: Scroll closed
22.5 in W x 18.25 in H(Image)
26.625 in W x 65.5 in H(Paper)
Notes: Scroll closed
22.5 in W x 18.25 in H(Image)
26.625 in W x 65.5 in H(Paper)
Chinese
Wang Jiqian, also known as C.C. Wang, is an artist renowned for his innovative approach to traditional Chinese landscape painting. He is most well-known, however, for collecting and assessing some of China’s most valued literati ink paintings. Born in Suzhou, China in 1907, Wang was privileged to be exposed from a young age to a number of important collections of traditional Chinese paintings, starting with that of his grandfather, who was a high official of the Qing administration. Two of his most valued teachers, Ku Ling-Shih and Wu Hufan (whose work is represented in the UAG collection) also owned robust collections of ancient paintings, rubbings, and bronzes, the former of which Wang copied tirelessly as part of his art education. Through a combination of this early exposure to the brushwork of the masters, and a later project, undertaken with German sinologist Victoria Contag, of documenting collectors’ seals, he is estimated to have seen over 90 percent of public and private painting collections in the People’s Republic of China. He moved to the United States to escape the chaos of the civil war in 1947 and eventually settled down in New York City where he studied Western painting for a brief period at the Art Students League. While his studies in Western art surely enriched his creative approach, he soon returned to traditional ink and brush landscape painting, which he spent the rest of his life perfecting. While in New York he also cultivated his own collection of ancient paintings, 25 of which were sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1998.
After moving to the United States, C.C. Wang’s style underwent a series of innovative developments. Like many students of Chinese ink painting, his early practice was dominated by copying the brushwork of the greats, sometimes combining two or more styles into one composition. But over time, he established a series of techniques that reflect an unceasing pursuit of the “natural.” Beginning in the 1960s, Wang began experimenting with a variety of procedures for applying ink to the paper, including imprinting its surface with a crumpled paper covered in ink, embracing irregularities such as folds or stains in the paper as part of the composition, capturing the texture of the table beneath the paper, dripping ink, and applying hot wax. All such techniques were done in advance of any standard brushwork and laid the foundation for the resulting composition. This follows in the tradition of the Northern Song Master Guo Xi, who saw a variety of forms in the irregularities on his mud walls, which he imitated in his artistic compositions. By starting with these unintentional markings as the composition’s foundation, Wang aimed for a naturalism or even ‘naiveté’ that he knew he could never fully attain due to a lifetime of formal training.
Landscape No. 427 is an example of a work from his final artistic phase characterized by simplification of form, prominence of color, and less reliance on the applied texture technique. In this work, no applied textures can be found. Rather, Wang has used quick brushstrokes, in the style of Yuan master Ni Zan, the angularity of which are reminiscent of the application of inked crumpled paper. The left two-thirds of the composition of Landscape No. 427 is dominated by a craggy cliff, defined by a series of quickly rendered, dry brushstrokes over a wet wash that suggests its overall mass. The angularity of the cliff’s surface is offset by lush vegetation that seems to overflow from the cliff-ledge to the ground below, rendered in minute dabs with a saturated brush. A village of tiny orange-roofed houses is assembled at the base of the cliff, dwarfed by the monumentality of the rock above. The sky is rendered in a series of wet strokes and washes, which become increasingly darker as they reach the top of the paper. A single cloud defined in dry, dark strokes, looms in the sky near the top-most peak of the cliff. The combination of wet washes with dry strokes gives the impression of movement of mist and wind, accentuated by the flock of birds emerging from the horizon, flying over the village, towards the space of the viewer. Landscape No. 427 is a delightful testament to C.C. Wang’s mastery of the brushstroke and creative spirit.
-Madeline Eschenburg
After moving to the United States, C.C. Wang’s style underwent a series of innovative developments. Like many students of Chinese ink painting, his early practice was dominated by copying the brushwork of the greats, sometimes combining two or more styles into one composition. But over time, he established a series of techniques that reflect an unceasing pursuit of the “natural.” Beginning in the 1960s, Wang began experimenting with a variety of procedures for applying ink to the paper, including imprinting its surface with a crumpled paper covered in ink, embracing irregularities such as folds or stains in the paper as part of the composition, capturing the texture of the table beneath the paper, dripping ink, and applying hot wax. All such techniques were done in advance of any standard brushwork and laid the foundation for the resulting composition. This follows in the tradition of the Northern Song Master Guo Xi, who saw a variety of forms in the irregularities on his mud walls, which he imitated in his artistic compositions. By starting with these unintentional markings as the composition’s foundation, Wang aimed for a naturalism or even ‘naiveté’ that he knew he could never fully attain due to a lifetime of formal training.
Landscape No. 427 is an example of a work from his final artistic phase characterized by simplification of form, prominence of color, and less reliance on the applied texture technique. In this work, no applied textures can be found. Rather, Wang has used quick brushstrokes, in the style of Yuan master Ni Zan, the angularity of which are reminiscent of the application of inked crumpled paper. The left two-thirds of the composition of Landscape No. 427 is dominated by a craggy cliff, defined by a series of quickly rendered, dry brushstrokes over a wet wash that suggests its overall mass. The angularity of the cliff’s surface is offset by lush vegetation that seems to overflow from the cliff-ledge to the ground below, rendered in minute dabs with a saturated brush. A village of tiny orange-roofed houses is assembled at the base of the cliff, dwarfed by the monumentality of the rock above. The sky is rendered in a series of wet strokes and washes, which become increasingly darker as they reach the top of the paper. A single cloud defined in dry, dark strokes, looms in the sky near the top-most peak of the cliff. The combination of wet washes with dry strokes gives the impression of movement of mist and wind, accentuated by the flock of birds emerging from the horizon, flying over the village, towards the space of the viewer. Landscape No. 427 is a delightful testament to C.C. Wang’s mastery of the brushstroke and creative spirit.
-Madeline Eschenburg
In Collection
In possession of UAG since 2000; In possession of donor 1996-2000; Purchased by donor from artist in 1996.
Anonymous Donation, 2000 (see Notes)
Anonymous Donation, 2000 (see Notes)
Please note that cataloging is ongoing and that some information may not be complete.