Wu Zhongqi 武中奇.
Wu Zhongqi's set of four scrolls depicts the characters for the "four noble plants"—a common topos in Chinese painting. Rather than depict the plants themselves, he has written the characters for them with an appropriate passage below each character. The large characters have an angular, brusque style that displays a nice contrast between the velvety, wet ink and the "flying white" produced by the brush as it dries out.
The "four gentlemen" refers to the four noble plants and flowers that embody the ideals of the literati spirit— 菊 (chrysanthemum), 竹 (bamboo), 蘭 (orchid), and 梅 (plum blossom).
Creator.Personal Name: Wu Zhongqi.
Creator.Role: calligrapher.
Title: [The Four Gentlemen]
Description: set of four hanging scrolls; ink on paper (semicursive script); inscribed and signed by the artist; three artist's seals on each scroll.
Date.Created: 2003.
Type: Calligraphy--Chinese--2003.
Type: Scroll (Visual work)--Chinese.
Style.Period: Contemporary.
Culture: Chinese.
Material.Medium: ink.
Material.Support: paper.
Measurements: 13 x 52 in. (each scroll)
Location.Current Repository: private collection, C. J. Campbell (Chicago, Ill.)
Rights: C. J. Campbell.
Record Type: work.
