Length: 10 1/2" Width: 6 3/4" 16th/17th C. Dong Qichang ( 董其昌; 1555-1636) courtesy name Xuanzai (玄宰) Chinese later period of Ming Dynasty traditional silk paintings and calligraphy collection album book. Chinese traditional painting, ink and color on paper, matted, with silk hardcover. Consist of 6 original works of Master painter & calligrapher Dong Qichang, depicted waterside landscape in various scenes along with themed calligraphy on paper companied each painting. PROVENANCE: From the heirloom collections of Wu Guozhen (吳國楨; October 21, 1903-June 6, 1984) was a Chinese political figure and historian, government official who served as mayor of Hankow (1932-1938), mayor of Chung-king (1939-1941), political vice minister of foreign affairs (1943-45), mayor of Shanghai (1946-1948), and governor of Taiwan (1950-1952) and the former Chairman of Taiwan Provincial Government. He resigned in 1953 and went to the United States, charging that Taiwan was becoming a police state.K.C. Wu lived in the United States where he served as professor of Chinese history at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia. During his time in the United States, he wrote various works, including a detailed analysis on Chinese culture in the context of mythology and early history in his book The Chinese Heritage.Wu is remembered mainly for his vital role in the formation of a liberal modern Taiwan and his anti-communist beliefs typical of a member of Kuomintang, but he is also remembered for his brave anti-Kuomintang rhetoric and turbulent disagreements with the more Russian-styled second President of Taiwan.The Collections of Wu Guozhen (吳國楨) presented and offered up to auctions ON DAY-1: from Lot-97 through Lot-127, continued from Lot-219 through Lot-255. ON DAY-2: from Lot-354 through Lot-377, continued from Lot-451 through Lot-480.LOT NOTES: Dong Qichang ( 董其昌; 1555-1636) pseudonym name Xuanzai (玄宰) was a Chinese painter, scholar, calligrapher, and art theorist of the later period of the Ming Dynasty.His work favored expression over formal likeness. He also avoided anything he deemed to be slick or sentimental. This led him to create landscapes with intentionally distorted spatial features. Still his work was in no way abstract as it took elements from earlier Yuan masters. His views on expression had importance to later "individualist" painters.He considered there to be a Northern school, represented by Zhe, and a Southern school represented by literati painters. These names are misleading as they refer to Northern and Southern schools of Chan Buddhism thought rather than geographic areas. Hence a Northern painter could be geographically from the south and a Southern painter geographically from the north. In any event he strongly favored the Southern school and dismissed the Northern school as superficial or merely decorative.His ideal of Southern school painting was one where the artist forms a new style of individualistic painting by building on and transforming the style of traditional masters. This was to correspond with sudden enlightenment, as favored by Southern Chan Buddhism. By relating to the ancient masters' style, artists are to create a place for themselves within the tradition, not by mere imitation, but by extending and even surpassing the art of the past. Dong's theories, combining veneration of past masters with a creative forward looking spark, would be very influential on Qing Dynasty artists as well as collectors, "especially some of the newly rich collectors of Sungchiang, Huichou in Southern Anhui, Yangchou, and other places where wealth was concentrated in this period". He, together with other early self-appointed arbiters of taste, helped determine which painters were to be considered collectible (or not). As Cahill points out, such men were the forerunners of today's art historians.Dong Qichang was the son of a teacher and somewhat precocious as a child. At 12 he passed the prefectural civil service examination and won a coveted spot at the prefectural Government school. He first took the imperial civil service exam at seventeen, but placed second to a cousin because his calligraphy was clumsy. This led him to train until he became a noted calligrapher. Once this occurred he rose up the ranks of the imperial service passing the highest level at the age of 35.His positions in the bureaucracy were not without controversy. In 1605 he was giving the exam when the candidates demonstrated against him causing his temporary retirement. In other cases he insulted and beat women who came to his home with grievances. That led to his house being burned down by an angry mob. He also had the tense relations with the eunuchs common to the scholar bureaucracy. Dong's tomb in Songjiang District was vandalized during the Cultural Revolution, and his body dressed in official Ming court robes, was desecrated by Red Guards. Condition Natural imperfection on the medium (paper or silk), regardless from any major damages; includes light blooms, discoloration and minor fading. Consider normal due to the ages. All lots are sold as is and where is. Lauren Galleries provides condition reports upon request to aide in your bidding decision. No statement regarding age, condition, kind, value, or quality of a lot, whether made orally at the auction or at any other time, or in writing in this catalog or elsewhere, shall be construed to be an express or implied warranty, representation, or assumption of liability. All sales are final, Lauren Galleries does not give refunds based on condition. 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