Jiang Qian
Refined Zhe School landscape painter
Jiang Qian(蔣乾) (1525-1609), courtesy name Zijian(子健), art name Hongqiao Jushi(虹橋居士), was from Jiangning (now Nanjing, Jiangsu) and the son of Jiang Song(蔣嵩). He was a painter during the Ming Dynasty. He was mainly active from the Zhengde(正德) to early Wanli(萬曆) periods, with most of his painting concentrated in the Jiajing era, and he is considered a later painter of the Zhe School. He lived in Hongqiao in Wu County (now Suzhou, Jiangsu). He was good at painting landscapes, influenced by his father (Jiang Song), but his compositions were novel, merging ancient and modern styles in a unique way, never resembling his father's school. His works include the handscroll "Imitation of Wang Meng’s Landscape" from the 42nd year of Jiajing (1563) and the scroll "Later Red Cliff Ode" from the 31st year of Wanli (1603). Surviving works include the handscroll "Fishing Alone in the Autumn Waters." Jiang Qian was one of the strong figures of the Zhe School. In art history, there were two Ming painters named Jiang Qian: one was Jiang Qian of the Zhe School (son of Jiang Song), and the other was Jiang Qian of the Wu School (Heben Jiang Qian). Their painting styles were very different, belonging to the Zhe and Wu schools respectively. From the late Ming Dynasty onwards, influenced by the "Southern and Northern Schools" theory, Zhe School paintings were not highly valued, and works of Zhe painter Jiang Qian were often mixed in with those of Wu painter Jiang Qian. According to Volume 4 of "Ming Hua Lu," it says: "His landscapes are clear, refined, and elegant, completely unlike his father’s style. Living in Hongqiao, Wu Capital, in a rundown house with rope beds, he led a simple and secluded life, maintaining his practice consistently for eighty years." Additionally, according to Peng Yuncan's "Collected Chronicles of Painters Throughout History," the painter Shen Yingshan was a student of Jiang Qian, and his landscapes followed the styles of Ma Yuan, Xia Gui, Jing Hao, and Guan Tong.