Wang Meng (c. 1308-1385) was a Chinese painter of the Yuan dynasty and one of the Four Masters of that period, along with Huang Gongwang, Wu Zhen and Ni Zan. He was born in Wuxing, today Huzhou, in Zhejiang. His importance lies in renewing landscape painting at a time when scholar-gentlemen sought to express ideas through the brush.
His kinship with Zhao Mengfu, one of the most prestigious artists of his day, is described in different ways: some sources present him as Zhao's son, while others call him a maternal grandson, which would link him to the old Song imperial house. Like his companions, he refused to serve the Mongol rulers. His art name was Xiangguang Jushi.
Wang Meng worked on paper, a common choice among this circle of scholars, and landscape was his only subject, since they regarded it as the visible key to an invisible reality. His technique stacked sinuous brushstrokes until they formed masses of dense texture. He combined a detailed, energetic description with a more complex and subjective vision, giving rocks, torrents and trees a strongly dramatic effect. His best-known works include Ge Zhichuan Relocating, Forest Grotto at Juqu, Writing Books under the Pine Trees, The Simple Retreat and Dwelling in the Qingbian Mountains, now held by museums around the world.
He was the youngest of the group and the least famous in his own lifetime, yet his style was widely imitated by later painters, and Dong Qichang drew on it centuries later. Late in life he was wrongly accused of conspiring against the Ming emperor Taizu and spent his last five years in prison.
Works (1)
This work is attributed to Wang Meng, a Chinese painter associated with the landscape tradition of the Yuan dynasty. The available record does not allow us to specify with certainty the date, the commission or the particular subject of the composition, so any detailed reading of its scene would lack documentary support. It is held at the Liaoning Provincial Museum.
Where to see the work
- Liaoning Provincial Museum Shenyang · 1
Curiosities
A rediscovered work at auction
In 2011, a lesser-known work by Wang Meng from a private collection, titled Zhichuan Resettlement, sold at art auction for 402.5 million yuan, about US$62.1 million. The figure shows that, despite his modest fame in his lifetime, his landscapes commanded very high prices centuries later.
A legacy spread across the world
Most of his masterpieces are now held by major institutions on several continents, including the Palace Museum, the National Palace Museum, the Shanghai Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a result, a single painter can be studied in galleries that lie far apart.