Zhou Zhimian Bamboo Chicken Axis

[Zhou Zhimian Bamboo Chicken Painting Axis]

Bamboo Chicken Painting Axis, Ming Dynasty, Zhou Zhimian painting, paper, ink, vertical 158 cm, horizontal 47.2 cm
The self recognition of this painting: “Ren Yin, the crown of the Shang Yuan and Zhou Dynasty, plays with ink.” According to “Ren Yin”, it is the 21st year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1542). “Shang Yuan” refers to the Yuanxiao (Filled round balls made of glutinous rice-flour for Lantern Festival) Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. Seal “Zhou Zhimian” and “Fu Qing”. In the lower right corner, there is a seal of “A good pen and a happy life”, and in the lower left corner, there is a seal of “Zi Shou Secret Play”, a seal of Zhu Fang’s collection. Wu Dacheng signed the title. Chenglu Collection
This painting depicts a rooster looking for food on the grass slope in the bamboo forest. When it finds delicious food, it can’t help but cheer up and work hard on its hind legs to catch its prey at one stroke. The scene is vivid. The whole picture is moist with ink, and the brushwork is pretty. Although the rooster is represented by small freehand brushwork, the body charm of the rooster, especially the dynamic performance of the rooster when it leans forward with the terrain and wants to rush out, is lifelike and realistic, which reflects Zhou’s profound skill in freehand flower and bird painting. The world said, “Since the Ming Dynasty, there have been no writers of flowers and birds like Chen Daofu and Lu Shuping since Shen Zhou, but Tao Fu is wonderful and not true, Shu Ping is true and not good, and Zhou Zhimian seems to be able to do both.”.