Wen Boren
Master of dense, intricate Ming landscapes
Wen Boren(文伯仁) (1502–1575) was a painter of the Ming Dynasty, courtesy name Decheng(德承), also known by the names Wufeng(五峰), Sheshan Zhang(摄山长), Baosheng(葆生), Sheshan Laonong(摄山老农), Wufeng Shanren(五峰山人), and Wufeng Qiaoke(五峰樵客). He was Han Chinese, from Hengshan in Huguang, and registered in Changzhou (now Suzhou, Jiangsu). He was the nephew of Wen Zhengming(文徵明). He had a hot temper and liked to get angry and yell, and as a teenager, he once had a legal dispute with his uncle Wen Zhengming and was imprisoned for a while. Later, his character mellowed as he cultivated his skills in calligraphy and painting. He excelled at landscape painting, following Wang Meng, and studied the 'Three Zhaos' (Zhao Ji, Zhao Mengfu, etc.). His brushwork was clean and powerful, with lush, towering mountains and unusual compositions. He often added clever touches and could carry on the family painting style, with his reputation second only to Wen Zhengming. His large horizontal paintings were quite famous, and he expanded his style while sticking to traditional family techniques. His landscape paintings can be divided into three main types: first, literati-style light green and ink landscapes; second, finely detailed, intricate landscapes; third, blue-and-green landscapes inspired by Zhao Boju. Representative works include 'Maple River Fishing Boats' and 'Autumn Mountain Hermitage,' held in the Guangdong Museum; 'Siwan Mountains and Rivers' is in the Tokyo National Museum in Japan. Other works like 'Imitating Wang Meng's Landscape' and 'Flower Creek Fisherman' are in the Shanghai Museum, 'Deep in the Streams and Mountains' is in the National Museum of China, and in the third year of the Longqing era (1569), he painted 'Traveling on Taihu Lake,' using a flat, expansive composition to show the vastness of Taihu, considered one of his masterpieces. Wen Boren’s landscapes have two styles: the simple style imitates Wen Zhengming’s delicate brushwork, with spacious scenery and fine brushstrokes; the intricate style comes from Wang Meng, with layered forests, full compositions, and dense textures. He was also good at figure painting and poetry.