Description 枝頭好鳥 Bird Eating Berries
款識:心畬作。
鈐印:舊王孫(朱文)
Signed Hsin-Yu in Chinese
With one seal of the artist
溥心畬,名溥儒,為清宣宗道光皇帝的曾孫、祖父是恭親王奕訢,而父親載瀅則為恭親王次子。本姓愛新覺羅,後改字心畬,中年時改以溥為姓,別號西山逸士。早年受嚴格的皇室貴冑教育,除飽讀詩書外,騎射訓練亦嶄露頭角;因其皇室出身,故於書畫作品上常用「舊王孫」鈐印或落款署名。溥心畬於1949年渡海抵臺,其藝術成就與張大千、黃君璧並稱「渡海三家」,寓台時期追隨寒玉堂門下的後學更是無數。溥心畬自敘其藝術生涯始於隱居北京西南方馬鞍山的時期,他曾透過臨摹畫遍清宮珍藏的名畫與法書,「又喜遊名山,興酣落筆,可得其意。」溥氏除山水畫之外又精擅人物、花鳥、走獸與鬼怪等各類型的題材,畫風無不淡雅清逸,其工筆作品更帶有文人溫潤秀俊之氣,由此之故,文人畫傳統的繼承即落在溥心畬身上,不僅集詩書畫三絕於一身,其藝術成就的高度更被譽為「中國文人畫的最後一筆」。
溥心畬的工筆畫固守傳統風格,無論在構圖、用色、造型上都滿溢出文人畫風的精緻雅趣,渡海抵台定居後,發現蓬島上的人文風土甚為有趣,教課授業之餘,常於寒玉堂居所觀察日常風物,作畫題材有不少瓜果蔬菜與島內特有的花卉鳥獸,信筆畫來,頗有意趣。此作《枝頭好鳥》畫面維妙維肖,溥氏工筆來自於宋代院體畫風格,畫鳥講究寫生,要求觀察真鳥的紋彩,如此才能敷染出翎羽的寫真樣貌;畫中黃鸝鳥姿態生動,墨線勾勒鬆緊有度,再以淡墨層層敷染出歛翅的飛羽,後用重墨點出過眼羽,再施以赭色點眼形成強烈的對比。染色以藤黃渲染敷成,上濃下淡做出凹凸的立體感。鸝鳥的嘴喙銜著果實站在初春新綠的枝枒,正側反轉的葉又勝於雙勾篆籀筆意的粗幹,葉形翻飛多變,觀之彷如清風徐來,葉色的汁綠更顯出春意盎然,身形飽滿的禽鳥姿態昂揚,溥氏以工筆寫出通透神歡的春景,頗有唐代花鳥畫的神秀妙趣。
Pu Hsin-Yu, aka Pu Ru, was the great grandson of Emperor Daoguang, grandson of Prince Gong, and son of Zaiyng of the Qing dynasty. His family name was Aisin Gioro and named himself Hsin-Yu. He later chose Pu as family name, sobriquet Hermit of the West Mountain. He received imperial education with heavy attention on literature and hunting on horseback. A seal "Grandson of the Last King (Jiu Huang Sun)" was always used due to his royal background. Pu Hsin-Yu settled in Taiwan since 1949 and was named as one of the three greatest masters along with Zhang Daqian and Huang Chun-Pi. His students from Hanyu Tang were numerous. Pu's artistic career began from his hermit period at the Ma'an Mountain, South West of Beijing. He took reference to Imperial collections of ancient scrolls and painted after strolls at the mountains. Pu excelled in multiple genres including landscape, figures, flower-and- birds, animals and mystical beings. His landscape and gongbi paintings possess an ancient scholarly and elegant style.
Regardless of structure, colour and forms, gongbi paintings of Pu Hsin-Yu are steeped in a rich history and literary background. Taiwan fascinated Pu as he discovered its cultures. After class, he would take pleasure to observe daily objects, vegetables, flowers and birds and to paint them. This work is meticulously painted in gongbi of the Song dynasty. Life drawings were emphasized with careful observations, so that colours and lines could be applied in accurate detail. The black-naped oriole was painted diligently with fine lines. Light ink was applied to depict feathers of its folded wings, followed by darker ink on the eyespot and ochre on the eye for contrast. Yellow was used on the majority of the body with various consistency to depict various gradients. The bird stands firmly on a new branch as it holds a berry firmly on its beak. Naturally curved leaf echoes vividly with the Zhuan brushwork on the branches. The green leaves sway gently along the breeze of spring, as a stout bird stands proudly on a branch. Pu's gongbi brushwork created a lively scene of spring, with a hint of the Tang style.
Dimensions D: 28 cm
Artist or Maker PU HSIN-YU (Taiwanese, 1896-1963)
Medium 水墨 設色 絹本 鏡框 Ink and colour on silk, framed
Provenance 香港佳士得,1993年10月24日,編號199 Christie's Hong Kong, 24 October, 1993, Lot 199