石渠寶笈三編(乾清宮),第二冊,頁608&*故宮書畫錄(卷八),第四冊,頁164&* 周之冕,江蘇長洲人。字服卿,號少谷。生卒年不詳,依流傳作品計,約活動於世宗嘉靖二十一年(西元一五四二年)至神宗萬曆三十四年(一六○六)間。在世以書畫著稱,書法長於隸體,繪畫則獨攻花鳥。 本幅畫梅以中鋒運筆圈花瓣,側筆寫老幹,運行至小枝則復歸中鋒。水墨豐厚飽滿,筆力遒勁,構圖頗為緊湊,題款用印,位置妥當,屬典型的文人畫。畫上有庚午年款,因周氏生卒年不詳,暫推定為隆慶三(一五七○)年之作。(選自「明人畫扇冊」第十四開。) &*Although the birth and death dates for Chou Chih-mien (style name Fu-ch’ing; sobriquet Shao-ku) are unknown, the dates on his surviving paintings indicate that he was active from 1574 to 1606. A native of Ch’ang-chou in Kiangsu, he achieved fame in calligraphy and painting and was known as a famous artist. He excelled in clerical script calligraphy and specialized in paintings of birds and flowers. In this painting of plum blossoms, Chou held his brush vertically to render the circular petals. He used slanted brushwork for the gnarled trunk, but returned to a vertically-held brush for the branches. The dark monochrome ink is abundant and the brushwork powerful. Even the placement of Chou Chih-mien’s signature and seal is fitting. This is thus a typical literati painting. &*1.劉芳如,〈明周之冕梅花〉,收入國立故宮博物院編輯委員會編,《畫梅名品特展》(臺北:國立故宮博物院,1991年元月初版),頁91-92。