Picture scroll of Zhou Fang waving her fan

[Volume of Zhou Fang’s Painting of a Lady with a Fan]

Volume of the Painting of a Lady with a Fan, which is said to be painted by Zhou Fang of Tang Dynasty, in silk, with colors, 33.7 cm vertically and 204.8 cm horizontally
No author’s stamp. Introduce the four words “Yilan Qinghua” in the Hongli title of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty. The seal of Han Shineng “Han Shineng Seal”, “Han Zhongzi’s”, “Shineng”, “Jiaolin Book House”, “Jiaolin Scholar”, “Jiaolin Kaocang”, “Gaozong Hongli” Guxi Tianzi “,” Qianlong Imperial View Treasure “,” Shiqu Treasure Collection “,” Qianlong Appreciation “, etc. in the Qing and Liang Dynasties, has a total of 31 seals
This picture depicts the images of 13 concubines and maids with high buns, round eyes and long skirts. The whole picture shows the various activities of the characters in the form of horizontal arrangement: sitting lazily with the fan, unpacking and playing the piano, dressing the mirror, embroidering the case, waving the fan and relaxing. The author pays attention to the rhythmic changes of the horizontal density and tightness of the picture, as well as the level changes of the vertical height, so as to make the picture structure orderly and avoid the monotonous and rigid composition. The color in the picture is rich, mainly red, with blue, gray, purple, green and other colors. The warm and cold colors set off each other, showing the delicate skin of the characters and the luxury of the clothes. The dress lines are close to the iron line drawing, which is round and vigorous, full of strength and flexibility, and more accurately delineates the various postures of the characters
The painter Zhou Fang was born in a prominent family, so he was very familiar with the luxurious life of the noble class. Her paintings of beautiful women do not take martyrs, virtuous women and fairies as the objects of expression, but are based on the pleasure activities of aristocratic women in real life, with a strong sense of the times, thus catering to the aesthetic interests of the high-ranking officials and nobles in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. Her works not only publicize the prosperous material life of the Tang Dynasty, but also reveal the extremely poor spiritual world of the ladies. The concubines in this picture are plump and luxuriously dressed, but they have a gruesome face, languid and lifeless manner
Zhang Chou of the Ming Dynasty, “The Painting Boat on the Qinghe River”, “The Continuation of Shiqu Treasure Collection”, and Ruan Yuan of the Qing Dynasty, “Shiqu Essays”.