Description 水族圖 Aquatic Life
釋文：盡學魚龍能變化，漫愁山鬼咲風流。
款識：中行仁弟，甲寅秋日，丁衍庸。
鈐印：虎（朱文）
Signed Ding Yan-Yong in Chinese
With one seal of the artist
註：
上款人「中行仁弟」，應為丁衍庸的弟子劉中行（1947年生），香港藝術家。
丁衍庸畫《水族圖》不求形似，將水族生態、動作、表情作出大膽的描寫，追求神韻天真的路數，畫風雖承襲自八大山人，但丁氏僅汲取了八大的沉潛內斂，後以線條的運用與墨色的變化創造出畫面上的靈動與跳躍感：線條上的法度則由心而出，畫螯蝦觸角筆勢飛舞、畫魚形線條婉轉柔美，以文人氣勝；墨色變化以焦墨寫螃蟹，蟹足方折之處可見篆隸筆勢、畫利牙張口的大魚下腹線條踞傲不拘，魚鰭、眼腮、尾部敷色濃淡兼施，無不曲盡其妙，風格之卓越，無與倫比。
Aquatic Life was drawn by freehand, highlighting a naive expression of sea animals. This could be traced back to Bada Shanren, but not a copy to his style. Ding extracted the humble representations of Bada as its base, and reinvented the vibracy through the depiction of ink and lines. The antennae of the shrimps dance in the air, while the outlines of the fish were smooth and gentle. The gradient of ink was highlighted by the concentrated dry ink of the crab and the joints of the legs in the strokes of seal scripts. A fish with a wide-open mouth has a loosely sketched belly. Its fins, eyes, gill and tail were lightly coloured, and thus an excellent and creative work was completed.
Dimensions 139 x 58.5 cm
Artist or Maker DING YAN-YONG (Chinese, 1902-1978)
Medium 水墨 紙本 立軸 Ink on paper, scroll
Date 1974
Provenance 佳士得，2019年11月18日至25日，編號 1648 Christie's, 18 November, 2019 - 25 November, 2019, Lot 1648
