Wang Shen

Wang Shen was born in 1036 in the Taiyuan area (modern Shanxi province). Descended from an ancient aristocratic family.

At one time, Wang Shen married the second daughter of Emperor Ying-tsung (1064–1067), after which he received great possessions and high government posts: he was military governor (Yushi) of Lizhou province (south of modern Shaanxi province). However, the relationship with the imperial court and high social status did not protect him from disgrace. Van fell into the trap of political intrigue of the imperial encirclement and was sent into exile for many years. He had to abandon political activities, public career and engage in the study of classical literature, collecting works of art and painting, painting itself.

Interest in the arts led him to the forefront of the metropolitan elite. Wang Shen has established personal friendly contacts with representatives of the “intellectual artists” school (wenzhenhua): Su Shi (Su Dongpo), Li Gonglin and Mi Fu . Wang Shen was one of the conservative-minded metropolitan masters and connoisseurs of painting. The artist did not study at the Academy of Painting, but took painting lessons from the artist Guo Xi , the leading artist at the time as an academic artist. The last years of his life Wang Shen spent writing landscapes. He died in 1093.

The artist was influenced by the so-called panoramic-monumental style, was interested in the manner of writing the famous master of painting Lee Chen, at one time was under a certain influence of the “gold-turquoise style” (Jinbo-fa 金碧 法, “rules of gold and turquoise”) - the academic landscape of the Tang era . A characteristic piece of the “academic” stage of Wang Shen's work is the roll “中文: 小雪 圖” (“Fishing Village under the First Snow”, 44.5 x 219 cm, silk, ink, the Gugun Museum, Beijing ), which has a clear diagonal structure. The right side of the canvas is taken up by the “wall” of mountain peaks. In the foreground of the picture rendered an image of a pine tree in which the artist imitates the painting style of the artist Lee Chen. Pine defines the central vertical axis of the scroll. On the left side of the picture shows the water space, bordered by a mountain range, in the background are depicted fantastic fantastic silhouettes.

Wang Sheng's painting “Yan Jiang de Zhang Tu” (“River in Fog and Frozen Peaks”, 45.3 x 165, 5 cm, silk, ink, Shanghai Art Museum ) was written based on the works of the poet Su Shi. This picture marked the transition of the artist to the style of "artists-writers." The scroll is contrary to all existing academic principles. About two-thirds of it occupies free space, which creates the impression of thick fog. In the left part of the composition of the picture shows mountains with trees. The mountains protrude from the fog and appear to be a ghostly mirage.

Preserved information about the creation of Wang Sheng in a monochrome technique of landscape compositions in the manner of Lee Chen. At the same time, Wang Shen managed to develop his own writing style, which is different from the styles of contemporary artists or masters of the past. Recognition from connoisseurs of painting received his work in the genre of "painting bamboo" (piss, "bamboo, painted with ink"), in which the artist focused on the style of Wen Tong, while showing masterly mastery of the classical techniques of the brush.

Wang Shen was also an outstanding representative of the genre of "painting dignitaries and aristocrats" (shidafu hua). The preserved heritage of Wang Shen allows to trace the evolution of not only his painting style, but also the whole direction in painting.

The artist's paintings are kept in galleries and museums of Beijing (“Snow over a fishing village”), Shanghai (“Misty River”), Taipei (“Immortal Islands”, “White Eagle on the Old Tree”).

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• Wang Shen