Scholar Gazing at Plum, 1944Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper, inscribed by the artist and dated jiachen, signed Shende Feng Chaoran with three artist's seals Songshan jushi, Feng Chaoran and Bai he qi ren. 26 5/8 x 13 3/8in (67.5 x 34.1cm) 馮超然 觀梅圖 設色紙本 立軸 一九四四年作Provenance/來源:Far East Fine Arts, San Francisco, California, 4 December 1987加州舊金山遠東藝術中心，1987年12月4日Published/出版:Toda, Teisuke and Hiromitsu Ogawa comp. Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Paintings, Third Series, Volume 1: American and Canadian Collections, University of Tokyo Press, 2013, A50-11, p. 211戶田禎佑、小川裕充，《中國繪畫總合圖錄》三編，第一卷，東京大學出版會，東京，2013年，A50-11，頁211Andrews, Julia Frances, Michael Knight, and Pauline Yao. Between the Thunder and the Rain: Chinese Paintings from the Opium War Through the Cultural Revolution, 1840-1979, San Francisco: Echo Rock Ventures, in association with the Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture, 2000, p. 201Andrews, Julia Frances, Michael Knight, and Pauline Yao,《風雲際會：從鴉片戰爭到「文革」（1840-1979）的中國繪畫》，亞洲藝術博物館，李鐘文亞洲藝術文化中心，舊金山，加州，2000年，頁201Little, Stephen, and J. May Lee Barrett. New Songs on Ancient Tunes: 19th-20th Century Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy from the Richard Fabian Collection, Honolulu: Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2007, pp. 374-375Little, Stephen, J. May Lee Barrett,《古調新歌：費立哲神父珍藏十九及二十世紀中國書畫》，檀香山藝術博物館，夏威夷，2007年，頁374-375Exhibited/展覽:Between the Thunder and the Rain, Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture, San Francisco, California, October 25, 2000-January 14, 2001《風雲際會：從鴉片戰爭到「文革」（1840-1979）的中國繪畫》，亞洲藝術博物館，舊金山，加州，2000年10月25日至2001年1月14日New Songs on Ancient Tunes, Honolulu Art Academy, Honolulu, Hawaii, August 30-October 28, 2007《古調新歌：費立哲神父珍藏十九及二十世紀中國書畫》，檀香山藝術博物館，夏威夷，2007年8月30日至10月28日Feng Chaoran, whose given name was Jiong, used the sobriquet Songshan jushi, was a calligrapher and painter of the twentieth century. He studied painting with Zhang Luqian in Suzhou. Later the artist moved to Shanghai and established his own studio named Songshan caotang. Together with Wu Hufan, Wu Daiqiu, and Wu Zishen, the four artists were known as "San Wu yi Feng" (Three Wus and One Feng) in Shanghai. In early his years, Feng Chaoran specialized in figure painting in the manner of Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, but focused on landscape in the traditional literati style in his later years. This painting dated to 1944 can be considered as a later creation in the artist's career. It exemplifies the artist learning from both figure and landscape genres -- an integration of a figure with detailed facial rendering and a landscape with more expressive brushwork.