Landscape Painting Scroll by Ming Dynasty Mster Painter Wen Boren (1502-1575)
明名畫家文伯仁(1502∼1575) 山水畫軸
Wen Boren [Wen Po-jen; zi Dezheng; hao Wufeng]
(b Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, 1502; d Suzhou, 1575). Painter, nephew of Wen Zhengming and cousin of Wen Jia, Part of the Wen family. He was renowned for his mean personality: as a youth he lost a legal dispute with his uncle and teacher, Wen Zhengming, and was imprisoned. Like Wen Jia, he failed the provincial juren (second degree) civil service examinations. Perhaps because of his cantankerous character, he did not often participate in Suzhou scholarly gatherings, nor was he as actively involved in WU SCHOOL activities as were his cousins Wen Peng (1498–1573) and Wen Jia; his paintings do not usually bear inscriptions by his contemporaries, and colophons by him are rare. The critic Wang Shizhen (1526–90) marvelled at how such a vile person could produce such fine landscapes. A portrait of Wen Zhengming dated in correspondence with 1526 by Wen Boren is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
The Wen Family
Chinese family of artists. The Wen family formed the core of the Wu school artists active in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, during the 16th century. They were descended from a prominent family, which since the Song period (960–1279) had produced distinguished scholars and officials. The most talented among them was (1) Wen Zhengming, who personally tutored his two sons, Wen Peng (1498–1573) and (2) Wen Jia, and his nephew (3) Wen Boren. Wen Peng (1489–1573) was a calligrapher and advisor to the collector Xiang Yuanbian. He also collaborated with his younger brother Jia on painting, poetry and calligraphy projects.
文伯仁(1502∼1575)
明代畫家，字德承，號五峰，長洲（今江蘇省蘇州市）人，文徵明之侄。善畫山水，少傳家學，時發巧思。其山水畫有簡、繁兩種面貌。簡者效文徵明細筆山水，景色疏朗，筆墨細秀，多抒情意趣；繁者出自王蒙，山林層疊，構圖飽滿，皴點繁密，境界鬱茂，筆墨細勁縝密，有獨到之處。技巧較文嘉為高。傳世代表作有上海博物館藏《花溪漁隱圖》軸、故宮博物院藏《太湖圖》軸及遼寧省博物館藏《萬壑松風圖》軸，其中《太湖圖》為繁筆山水，山巒、湖溪、舟帆、亭觀，佈置茂密而又開闊，披麻皴法與樹叢點染，繁而不亂，得王蒙遺意。