True Meaning of Mountains and Streams, 1884Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper, inscribed by the artist and dated jiashen and signed Pu Hua, with an artist's seal Xiushui Pu Hua Zuoying.71 1/4 x 37in (181 x 94cm) 蒲華 溪山真意 設色紙本 立軸 一八八四年作Provenance/來源:Far East Fine Arts, San Francisco, California加州舊金山遠東藝術中心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, A50-245, p. 223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，A50-245，頁 223Little, 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. 300-301 Little, 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 300-301Exhibited/展覽: 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Pu Hua, who often used the courtesy names Zuoying, was a native of Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. A candidate for the imperial examinations, he only passed at the county level as xiucai, so he ceased the pursuit of an official career and devoted himself to poetry, calligraphy and painting. He had a wild and creative soul, at the age of 30, following his wife's passing, he started travelling with his brushes and inkstones around Ningbo, Hangzhou and Shanghai, where he had neither a permanent residence nor job. He also travelled to Japan, where his works were admired. At 60, he finally settled in Shanghai and continued his career as a painter and calligrapher. Pu Hua, together with Ren Bonian, Wu Changshuo and Xu Gu, were known as the "Four Outstanding Painters of the Shanghai School". After returning from Japan in 1881, Pu Hua travelled extensively through the beautiful landscapes of Taizhou, Hangzhou, and Ningbo in eastern China. This compelling landscape, painted in 1884, is undoubtedly a result of these visits and represents his mature technique. With vigorous and saturated brushstrokes, this landscape presents an imposing yet intricate composition, perfectly exemplifying the 'deep distance' method among the classic 'three axis of distance' (level, deep, and high) of Chinese landscape painting, as argued by master painter Guo Xi of the Northern Song dynasty. However, in contrast to the bold brushwork throughout the painting, Pu Hua has used much finer brushstrokes to depict the foliage and jagged tree trunks of the pine trees – a characteristic of Pu Hua's large-scale landscapes. 蒲華，字作英，浙江嘉興人。早歲參加科舉，僅中秀才，遂絕念仕途，潛心詩詞書畫。而立之年髮妻病逝，蒲華遂攜筆硯出遊，往來寧波、杭州、上海一帶，居無定所，遊食四方。亦曾赴東瀛，頗得日人賞識。六十歲後始定居於滬上，繼續筆硯生涯。與任伯年、吳昌碩、虛谷合稱「海派四傑」。自1881年訪日歸國後，蒲華長年雲遊於台、杭、甬等地山水間。本幅大型山水作於1884年，無疑是其閲山水無數後視野與技法的結晶之作。全圖筆墨蒼潤，氣勢恢弘，構圖繁複，淋漓盡致地體現出北宋大家郭熙所提出的中國山水畫"三遠"中的"深遠"之法。在全畫的粗放筆墨間，蒲華卻特以工細筆觸寫出針葉及嶙峋樹幹。這也是蒲華大型山水作品的特色之一。