|
Sheng Maoye [Sheng Mao-yeh; zi Nianan; hao Yan’an]
(b Changzhou [modern Suzhou], Jiangsu Province; fl c. 1594–1640). Chinese painter. Little is known about the life of Sheng Maoye: literary sources describe only his painting style, and he provided no personal information in inscriptions on his paintings. There is no record of his having pursued an official career, no family history and no surviving contemporary criticism of his skills. This implies that he did not move in Suzhou literati circles, since painters firmly established in the scholar–amateur élite, such as Dong Qichang, are generally well documented. Indeed, Sheng’s paintings are ‘functional’ rather than in the literati style (see CHINA, §V, 4(ii)); many are large hanging scrolls depicting groups of scholars in nature, intended for hanging in entrance and reception halls, and some are ‘occasional’ paintings commissioned for special events. It seems that Sheng made his living by painting, but to dismiss him as a ‘professional’, implying vacuous imitation and lack of originality, is to undervalue him.
|
|
There are more than 45,000 articles in The Grove Dictionary of Art.
To access the rest of this article, including the bibliography, subscribe to
www.groveart.com.
To find out more about this subject, click on a related article below and
subscribe to www.groveart.com
|
