故宮書畫錄(卷八),第四冊,頁163&*朱完(西元一五五九-一六一七年),字季美,又號白岳山人,南海諸生。負文名,能詩,工篆隸,隸書嚴整清勁,獨步一時。畫以墨竹見長,亦工人物。 此圖作於萬曆三十四年(一六○六),朱完時年四十八,用筆已甚老辣,竹葉多以焦墨寫成,葉稍偶見飛白筆觸,率意中見蒼勁。古柏自左下曲伸而上,枝葉虬結,濃淡濕筆交錯點畫,在背景竹葉之襯托下,益顯精神。本幅為「明花卉畫冊」第十一開。 &*Bamboo and Cypress Chu Wan (1559-1617) Ming Dynasty Chu Wan (style name Chi-mei; sobriquets Pai-yüeh shan-jen and Nan-hai chu-sheng) was a noted scholar skilled in composing poetry and in writing seal and clerical calligraphy. His clerical script was tightly structured, and his brushwork clear and energetic. In painting, he was famous for his bamboo in monochrome ink, and he was also skilled in figure painting. This painting was executed in 1606 when Chu Wan was forty-seven. His brushwork is well-practiced, and he mostly used scorched black ink for the bamboo leaves though parts of the leaves were left unpainted in the “flying white” technique (fei-pai). This free, spontaneous brushwork, however, bears the traces of a sure and strong hand. The ancient cypress rises up from the left, its branches twisting about forming a lively, interesting interplay with the bamboo leaves. The wet ink in varying tonalities of dark and light add to the feeling of vitality. This is the eleventh leaf in the album Flowers by Ming Artists (Ming hua-hui hua-ts’e).