Bamboo, Liu Shangwen

Exhibition Label: "Nature/Natural," Jul-2014, Kris Ercums Liu Shangwen, like many other accomplished female artists of her day, was forgotten not long after her death. The wife of a transport assistant, Liu Shangwen apparently delighted in chanting poetry and was a talented calligrapher able to copy ancient script with remarkable accuracy. During her life, she also gained repute as a painter of bamboo, following the style of the Southern Song poet and court offical Su Shi (1037–1101) (see Tani Buncho’s nearby hand scroll). Much of what is known about Liu’s life is recorded in Tuhui baojian圖繪寶鑒 [Precious Mirror of Painting], a critical biography of painters compiled in 1365 by the Yuan dynasty collector Xia Wenyan夏文彥. In this text, Xia notes the somewhat rough style of Liu’s bamboos,which was a direct homage to Su Shi. Su’s seemingly amateurish brushwork and spontaneous marks were in direct contrast to his contemporaries, most of whom sought greater polish and refinement in their paintings. Exhibition Label: Asian Gallery, Fall 2003, Youmi Efurd Bamboo was one of the major themes of scholar-official (literati) painters in the Mongolian-ruled Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Since bamboo bends but does not break even in heavy storms, it became a metaphor for scholar-officials struggling under foreign domination. Bamboo remained a favorite theme among literati painters in China and later in Japan as well. Liu Shangwen is known only from this painting and an entry in the Tuhui baojian (1365), a biographical compilation of painters by the Yuan dynasty collector Xia Wenyan. Liu Shangwen is said to have been the wife of a transport assistant surnamed Meng, and she was talented in ancient calligraphy. Archive Label 2003: Liu Shangwen, like most other accomplished female artists of her day, was forgotten within a generation or two of her death. She is known only from this painting and an entry in the Tuhui baojian, a critical biography of painters compiled in 1365 by the Yuan dynasty collector Xia Wenyan. The wife of a transport assistant, Liu Shangwen apparently delighted in chanting poetry. She was a talented calligrapher able to copy ancient calligraphy with remarkable accuracy. Known particularly as a painter of ink bamboo, she followed the style of the Southern Song poet-official Su Shi (1037-1101). The author of the Tuhui baojian concludes that [although her painting is] rough, [her works are] well worth seeing. Liu Shangwen’s painting style represents a rare instance (at least among extant paintings) of a Yuan dynasty artist continuing the somewhat rough, amateur tradition of bamboo painting ascribed to Su Shi at a time when most literati painters sought greater polish and refinement in their brushwork.