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From the Collection of Mark S. Pratt, Washington D.C.
美國華盛頓班立德總領事珍藏中國古代書畫
Lots 890-892
美國華盛頓班立德總領事珍藏中國古代書畫
Lots 890-892
Lot 890
YUAN YAO (C. 1720-1784) Friends Gathering in the Retreat
Amended
2 June 2023, 14:00 HKT
Hong Kong, Six Pacific PlaceHK$1,000,000 - HK$2,000,000
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YUAN YAO (C. 1720-1784)
Friends Gathering in the Retreat
Ink and colour on silk, hanging scroll
Signed Hanshang Yuan Yao, with two artist's seals
Dated gengzi (1780)
166 x 198cm (65⅜ x 78in)
Ink and colour on silk, hanging scroll
Signed Hanshang Yuan Yao, with two artist's seals
Dated gengzi (1780)
166 x 198cm (65⅜ x 78in)
Footnotes
袁耀 山莊客至 設色絹本 立軸 一七八〇年作
款識：
庚子（1780）清和月，邗上袁耀畫。
鈐印：袁、耀
Yuan Yao and his elder relative Yuan Jiang were both professional painters among a circle of Yangzhou-based artists painting a distinct style of landscapes in the early and middle Qing. Specializing in large scale compositions that capture the majesty of Northern Song monumentality, Yuan Yao and Yuan Jiang's paintings are humanized with sprawling architectural compounds rendered with fine details that enrich the scene with a glimpse of the material culture of the day, and, the tension between precisely defined architectural features and household furnishings with the bold brushwork of the mountains that crest over the human realm is one triumph of the Yuan Yao/Yuan Jiang style.
In the current lot, from the collection of Mark S. Pratt of Washington DC, Yuan Yao conjures a scene where dramatic mountains embrace an elegant country lakeside manor, opposed by a small fishing village on a distant shore. Within the composition, figures gather in the numerous rooms of the large multi-storied house, and a winding covered verandah leads to a pavilion at the water's edge, where a game of chess is ready for play. Along the winding corridors household staff bustle about in service of the residents, the figures energizing the scene. A zig-zagging bridge, a repeating motif that appears in many of Yuan Yao's paintings, crosses the water, connecting the manor with another shore. Vibrant mineral pigments capture the spring foliage and punctuate the landscape with bursts of color-- the sumptuous palette an allusion to Tang dynasty painting aesthetics. The voids in the composition--which indicate clouds and mist--interplay with the solid forms, and together solid and void endow the painting with rhythm and balance.
The grand dimensions of this painting indicate that the scroll was likely a commission for a wealthy Yangzhou patron. Although Yuan Yao, as well as Yuan Jiang, were briefly associated with the Qing Imperial atelier in Beijing, for most of their careers they were based in Yangzhou, catering to the wealthy elite and merchant classes that populated the thriving cultural metropolis. In the century that followed the collapse of the Ming, the generous philanthropy of merchant families transformed Yangzhou into a city of splendid houses, temples and gardens, surmounting Suzhou as China's cultural capital. Whereas numerous artists flocked to the city to revel in the flourishing art scene, the grandness of the Yuan Yao/Yuan Jiang style as expressed in this scroll, was especially well-suited to compliment the large merchant mansions.
註：清初畫壇，以「四王」為代表的文人畫被視為正宗，他們沿襲董其昌的畫風脈絡，恪守古法，追求筆墨韻致，深受士大夫階層的推崇。而生活在康乾時期的袁江、袁耀父子（一說叔侄）二人，卻能以風格嚴謹、技法高超的山水樓閣界畫另闢蹊徑，並稱「二袁」，於清初畫壇獨樹一幟。
袁耀，字昭道，揚州人。其生平記載頗稀，最早見於乾隆時成書的《畫人補遺》「袁江」條中，曰「......有子名耀，山水樓閣尚能守家法」。《揚州畫舫錄》記載袁江「初學仇十洲」，仇英擅長臨古，青綠山水更繼承了唐代李思訓、李昭道父子的傳統。由此推知，袁耀隨父習畫，亦上溯古人，取字「昭道」，或有意仿效唐朝李氏父子，間接透露了袁江、袁耀山水精緻華麗、氣勢恢弘的審美取向。
與父經歷相似，袁耀早年也在揚州作畫。康熙年間，山西鹽商賀君召在揚州建賀園，園於乾隆九年（1744）落成，袁耀應邀參加了一次雅集。三年後（1747），賀君召北上返臨汾，袁耀及當地文人友好為其踐行，以〈廣陵送別圖〉冊（現藏於天津文管局）相贈，袁耀繪其中一開。此後袁耀北上晉地作畫，至乾隆四十三年（1778），繪〈揚州名勝圖〉四幅（現藏故宮博物院），分寫「春臺明月」、「萬松疊翠」、「平流涌瀑」、「平岡豔雪」，乃實景寫生，說明袁耀彼時已返回家鄉。
本幅〈山莊客至〉，署「庚子清和月」，即乾隆四十五年（1780），乃畫家晚年於揚州所繪。作品尺幅鉅大，構圖方正，以鳥瞰的視角描繪了一座華麗的園林中，友朋來訪，客隨主便，或聽琴、或觀景的生動場景。畫面由下至上展開，首先映入眼簾的是山莊大門，門口奇石鎮宅，綠植濃陰，接著回廊曲折、小亭空幽，繁密的林木將視線帶入内院亭臺，內中陳設井然，花瓶几架，描繪入微。視線上移，遠景重巒叠嶂，煙霞籠罩，畫家用極具特色的鬼面皴，使山形脈絡皆有動感，如仰如臥，怪異嶙峋。山坳尚有村落，兩三農舍，零星散落，一派閒適的田園風光。這無疑展現了袁耀高超的畫面控制能力，他經營得當，能於大氣磅礴的篇幅中蘊藏豐富細節，處處引人入勝。
袁耀的山水樓閣界畫，主要分為兩大類，既有〈九成宮〉、〈蓬萊仙境〉等虛構的傳說勝地、歷史建築；又有〈邗江勝覽〉、〈山莊秋稔〉等紀實題材。
目前公私收藏中，袁耀署年最早作品見於雍正十二年（1734），最晚則為乾隆四十九年（1784）《瓊樓春色圖》軸（現藏於廣東省博物館）。長達半世紀的藝術生涯，袁耀更留下許多精緻華麗、氣勢磅礴的鉅幅「通景連屏」，其旺盛的創作力及駕馭畫面的功力，在有清一代山水樓閣界畫史上，袁江身後，畫壇祭酒，非袁耀莫屬。
With deep family roots in Salem, Massachusetts, and as a relative of Frederick Townsend Ward (1831-1862), Mark Pratt developed an interest in Chinese culture from an early age. A lifelong art collector, Mr. Pratt's distinguished United States State Department career afforded continuous opportunities for building an important collection over the course of sixty years.
Mr. Pratt made his first Chinese art purchase in 1947 while stationed in Qingdao with the United States Navy. Following his two-year service with the Pacific Fleet, and with academic training at Harvard University, Brown University, The Sorbonne, and Georgetown University, Mark Pratt joined the United States Foreign Service in 1956, his initial posting at the United States Embassy in Tokyo from 1957 to 1959. Moving to Taichung, Taiwan to continue Chinese language study in the years 1959-1960, his next station was Hong Kong, serving as the Mainland Economic Officer at the United States Embassy until 1963. With later posts in Laos and Paris, Mark Pratt was head of the Taiwan desk prior to finishing his career as Consul General at the Guangdong Consulate in 1989, his retirement ending three years of service in that position.
Witnessing the momentous geo-political transformation in Asia during the second half of the twentieth century, Mr. Pratt's keen collector's eye was also perpetually on the lookout for a treasure. Patronizing many of the most hallowed names in the Chinese art market, he discovered outstanding paintings and Song dynasty porcelain at Tokyo's Confucian Temple (Yushima Seido) and purchased works of art from Kusaka Shogado in the 1950's. In the decades that followed, the antique shops and art galleries in Taipei and Hong Kong were frequent haunted, making key purchases of Ming and Qing paintings from Chang Ding-chen and fine huanghuali furniture from Y.K. Ma. Mark Pratt's diplomatic role afforded him in contact with numerous living painters and calligraphers; he met Zhang Daqian on several occasions and formed a lasting bond with Tang Hong (1926-2018), a student of Yu Fei'an who relocated to Taichung after 1949 and later to Hong Kong, concurrent with Mr. Pratt's diplomatic postings.
Bonhams had the honour of offering some magnificent pieces from the Pratt collection in May 2015 in this saleroom, including an outstanding album by the renowned Orthodox School master Wang Hui (1632-1717) that fetched nearly HKD36 million.
班立德總領事出身於馬薩諸賽州塞勒姆望族， 早年即對中國文化產生了濃厚的興趣。作為矢志一生的收藏家，班立德成功的外交官生涯六十年來為他提供許多機遇。其部分珍藏數年前於邦瀚斯香港書畫專場中釋出，詳見香港邦瀚斯2015年5月31日《中國書畫》拍賣，拍品編號122-131。其中清宮舊藏的王翬水墨〈山水冊〉，以近三千六百萬港元高價成交。
一九四七年，班立德供職美國海軍，駐艦山東青島，購入平生第一件中國藝術品。結束太平洋艦隊兩年的服役後，因其在哈佛大學、布朗大學、索邦大學和喬治城大學接受的中國和日本語言、文化、歷史方面的學術訓練，班立德一九五六年加入美國外交部。旋即於五七至五九年派駐東京美國大使館。繼而轉派香港，擔任美國大使館大陸經濟官，再調任美國在台協會處長。一九八九年遷廣州總領事，三年後於此任上榮休。
目睹二十世紀下半葉亞洲地區地緣政治巨大變革的同時，班立德總領事始終孜孜於蒐集中國藝術精品。二十世紀五十年代，他光顧了諸多中國藝術品領域備受推崇的商家，在東京孔廟（湯島聖堂）購入書畫精品和宋瓷，在 Kusaka Shogado 處買到文玩工藝品。其後數十年間，他頻頻穿梭於台北和香港的古董店以及畫廊，從資深畫商張鼎臣處購入重要的明清字畫，Y. K. Ma處購入精美的黃花梨傢俱。外交官的身份也讓班立德總領事結識了眾多同時代藝術家。他數次和張大千會面，並且和于非闇的學生唐鴻（1926-2018）建立了長期的友誼。後者1949年徙居台中，又移居香港，和班立德總領事的幾次轉任恰恰偶合。
Saleroom notices
Please note that there is a publication on this lot: 請注意，此拍品的出版如下： 出版：铃木敬編，《中國繪畫總和圖錄》初編，日本收藏：繭山龍泉堂，東京大學出版社，1983年，頁IV-307，圖版JP26-004