Collection Appreciation - He Shi's "Sketch of a Grass Pavilion in the Forest"

He Shi (何適), also known as Dasheng, Sanshan, Tianyou, Baishi( Baishi, Baishi Daoren, Tiantai Shanren, Guangdong Bao'anren), was a descendant of He Zhen (字邦佐, political envoy of Guanhu Guangbu in the early Ming Dynasty, and Fengguan bo). He lived in Zhichuan and occupied Changshu, Jiangsu Province. In the literature on Guangdong, there is hardly any record of What suitability. He Shi's ancestor He Zhen was the leader of the Dongguan clan in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, and the People of Dongguan Chashan. It is speculated that He Shi's place of origin should also be Chashan. On the other hand, the "Biography of the History of Painting in Past Dynasties" and the "Chronicle of Changshu County" record that He Shi migrated to Changshu, painted with brush strokes, painted orchids and bamboos, and the poems had the charm of the Song people. He moved from Guangdong to Changshu, so he became acquainted with Li Liufang and studied painting with him. He Shi is famous for painting orchid bamboo, and is now in the Liaoning Provincial Museum a painting of He Shi's orchid fan, the book is "Ding You", that is, the twenty-fifth year of the Wanli Calendar (1597), when Li Liufang was 23 years old. It can be seen that He Shi is similar in age to Li Liufang, so it can be roughly inferred that He Shi's active year.

　　There are not many surviving works by He Shi, one of which is the "Sketch of the Grass Pavilion in the Forest" (see below) made by him in the eleventh year of Chongzhen (1638). This is a color on paper, 170.2 cm in length and 44.8 cm in width, and is now in the Suzhou Museum. The picture is similar to Li Liufang's style, which looks fresh and natural. The painter composes the picture in a far-reaching way. A simple grass pavilion stands on the rocky beach in the foreground, and a simple bamboo bridge is set up across the river. The trees in the close-up are mainly pine trees and dead branches, and they grow along the trend of mountains and stones, which appear to be tall and short. Two or three huts loom in the middle of the scene, and the creek meanders into the mountains. The distant scenery is full of clouds and smoke, the distant mountains are towering, and the shadows of mountains and trees under the smoke clouds are eerie, far-reaching and unpredictable, like a fairyland. The painter inscribed a poem of seven laws in the upper left of the picture, and signed it with "Peng Yin LaYue, Three Mountains He Baishi and Inscription". It can be seen from the knowledge that this work depicts the scene of deep winter, with a sense of desolation and desolation. It can be seen from the pen and ink used in Yuanshan that He Shi's pen has the style of wearing, inheriting the southern Song Dynasty ink vigorous wind, using the pen to stand up and hard, and at the same time has the meaning of Yuanren. He uses a thirsty pen to outline the peaks and mountains, and the use of rubbing is very accurate and flexible, and the lines are smooth and light, and the density is appropriate. This role is light and light, mainly light ink and dry ink, and the concave and convex light and dark of the mountain hill tomb stone are expressed by the horizontal dot moss with the layer rendering of light ink and straight, showing the cold and faint realm of "a thousand mountain birds flying away, and ten thousand paths disappearing" (Tang Dynasty Liu Zongyuan's "Jiang Xue").

　　He Shi followed Li Liufang to learn painting, and he must have the meaning of his style and painting. The era in which the two lived and the admiration of Dong Qichang's painting in the painting circles in the late Ming Dynasty made them prefer the Song and Yuan styles in their painting style. Li Liufang is a follower of the Dong clan, and his role is that of the developer of the "authentic" lineage of painting history. The idea of "imitating the ancients" advocated by Dong Qichang played a decisive role in Li Liufang's painting style, and this idea was also transmitted to He Shi. In He Shi's "Sketch of the Grass Pavilion in the Forest", the style of quoting scriptures can be clearly felt. The painter uses folding belts, phimping, unsophistication and other rubbing mountain stone structures, and uses dry brush and light ink to depict the desolate and cold scenes, with the brushwork of Ni Zhan of the Yuan Dynasty. The painter uses the pen to change the center to the flank, and shows the cold and empty mood with the dry ink of the light and elegant pine. However, the content and form of this work are different from Ni Zhan's: Ni Zhan's picture composition is flat and far,the scenery is minimalist, and it has a depressed and indifferent temperament; while He Shi's picture is more abundant. It can be seen from this that although He Shi imitates the Song and Yuan dynasties, his works are recreated after obtaining the essence of the previous generation of masters, and integrate personal emotions, moods and the environment at that time between pen and ink, rather than copying the works of previous generations.

　　In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Dong Qichang's emphasis on the idea of taking the ancients as teachers was highly praised by a large number of followers. However, Dong Shi opposes the simple mechanical simulation and copying, but advocates selective trade-offs, while integrating into their own inner artistic conception, recreating on the basis of the teachers and the ancients, while taking the strengths of the family, according to the painter's own ideas to integrate and adapt. He Shi is the most powerful practitioner of Dong's painting theory. He likes poetry, and when he completes the painting, he uses poems to make the poems, books and paintings of his works reflect each other, harmonious and unified, and more reflect the lyrical mood and the literati interest he pursues.

——Transferred from China Painting and Calligraphy