This painting depicts Wang Xizhi, the famed fourth-century calligrapher and Daoist alchemist, reclining on a riverbank and watching geese, a popular theme in Chinese figure painting. According to legend, Wang was so fascinated by geese that he would travel miles to view them. He apparently drew inspiration for his calligraphy by observing the graceful movement of the fowl’s neck. Xu Xiang adopted vivid colors for his rendition of the subject: pink for the scholar’s robe, bright red for the birds’ beaks, and green, ochre, and blue for the riverbank. The exuberant palette, which charmed the art market and the general public, is a key feature of the work of Xu and his contemporaries in the Shanghai School, influenced by the aesthetics of Western painting. Xu’s fast and loose style of brushwork is especially evident in the robe, where the angular, scribble-like lines vary greatly in weight, a technique likely learned from the Ming-dynasty Zhe School. The facial features resemble the style of Ren Bonian, a famous figure painter and member of the Shanghai School.
The inscription in the upper left corner reads: “For Master Shaomei the third brother’s elegant collection and comments, / In the early summer of jimao [1879], Xiaocang Xu Xiang.”
Wan Kong
2024