Artistic career

Primarily a landscape painter, mountains were the subject of most of Gong Xian's paintings. Willows are also a common theme in his work.

Gong Xian was a scholar loyal to the fallen Ming Dynasty. In the early years, he participated in the reunification activities. During the war in the late Ming Dynasty, he was forced to flee to save his life and drifted away. He spent many years at Yangzhou in exile, during which he continued to author anti-Qing works, and develop his characteristic "light Gong" and "dark Gong" styles.

Gong Xian was also one of the literati and known for his work with prose and poetry. It was only after the fall of Nanjing to the Qing that he took up professional painting as his primary means of making a living. However, despite painting several great pieces over his life, he ultimately died as he lived, in poverty.

Notable works

Painting

• Landscapes and trees

• Landscapes of the Twelve Months

• Dwelling among Mountains and Clouds

• Landscapes with Poems

• Landscapes with Poems

Poetry

• Plane

• Drinking in Xu's Garden

• Swallows to go east

Literary works

• Caoxiangtang Collection

• Painting Technique

• Chai Zhangren's Draft

• Gong Banqian's Paintings

• Poetry Meeting

• Banmu Garden Poetry Grass

• Banmu Garden Pond

• Midnight Tang Shi Ji

Character Memorial

The word "Qingliangshan" on the stone plaque in the middle of the gate of Soyelou was written by Gong Xian. The Memorial Hall was built on the southwest side of Qingliang Mountain. Regarding the origin of the name of the Saoye Tower, there are historical records in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Gong Xian once made a self-portrait. In this painting, he turned into a monk who was sweeping leaves, which was named the Saoye Tower. The building was destroyed by fire in the Qing Dynasty. In 1889, at the edict of Emperor Guangxu, the building was rebuilt, and it was rebuilt twice in 1901 and 1914.

生平

龔賢早年遷居南京，曾參加複社活動，南京被清朝軍隊占領後在江南等地流浪20年。50歲以後回到南京，隱居清涼山，築半畝園，建掃葉樓。

藝術成就

其書法師承米芾，自成一體。著有《香草堂集》。其畫以山水畫為主，遠宗董源、近宗沈周，能自闢蹊徑；善用墨，層層漬染，濃鬱蒼潤，而稍缺乏秀韻；著有《畫訣》、《柴丈人畫稿》、《半畝園詩》等。

延伸閱讀