Shen Shichong
Refined Yun Jian ink landscapes
Shen Shichong(沈士充) (active in the early 17th century), courtesy name Zijü(子居), was from Huating (present-day Songjiang, Shanghai) and a professional painter. He studied under Song Maojin and Zhao Zuo and was a representative painter of the Yun Jian branch of the Songjiang School. Many local painters in his county learned from his style. In Qing Dynasty Jiang Shaoshu's 'Silent Poetry History,' it is said that he inherited the true tradition of the Yun Jian painting school. His painting style emphasized the texture and ink washes, with delicate and refined brushwork. His landscapes were arranged with attention to the 'three layers and three distances' composition, and his techniques combined styles from various Song and Yuan masters. He once painted a large landscape hall on behalf of Dong Qichang; this was recorded in Chen Jiru's letters and has become an important historical source for studying the connection between Dong Qichang and Songjiang painting. His surviving works include the scroll 'Imitation of Ancient Landscapes' and the hanging scroll 'Tianxiang Study' in the Palace Museum, the hanging scroll 'Autumn Forest by a Water Pavilion' in the Nanjing Museum, and the scroll 'Imitation of Huang Gongwang’s Tianchi Stone Wall.' In the sixth year of Chongzhen (1633), he created 'Imitation of Huang Gongwang’s Tianchi Stone Wall' in ink, personally signing it rather than doing it on someone else's behalf, which has been classified as a Grade 2 cultural relic. There’s also the album 'Twelve Views of Suburban Gardens,' which shows the blending of Ming dynasty garden painting with landscape painting, using dots, lines, and planes to continue the traditional landscape painting style.