The Seattle Art Museum is fortunate to possess a rich collection of Shen Yinmo's works—particularly in having this unusually large work by the famed early twentieth-century calligrapher. This couplet is an excerpt from the poem Jizeng huzhong yinzhe 寄贈湖中隱者 by the Southern Song dynasty poet Lu You 陸游 (1125–1210). Its large size not only makes certain stylistic features more pronounced, but the work also gives us a glimpse of Shen Yinmo’s calligraphic practice late in his life.

Although the couplet is not dated, the signature and the two seals closely resemble the signature and seals of a Shen Yinmo couplet dated 1961.The image of the couplet is published in Shen Yinmo xiansheng shufaji 沈尹默先生書法集 (Taipei Xian: Yangzhengtang wenhua shiye gufen youxian gongsi, 2003): 182. Actually, these two seals were seldom used in Shen’s works. The “Shen Yinmo yin” 沈尹默印seal was only used on works in the 1960s. Another example using these two seals together is the Du Fu’s Poem in Running-cursive Script made in 1965. It is now in the collection of Shanghai Duoyunxuan 上海朵雲軒. See Song Jie宋捷 ed., Jinyun Liuyan: Shen Yinmo Calligraphy Art High-quality Goods Exhibition Special Set晉韻流衍：沈尹默書法藝術精品展特集 (Shijiazhuang: Hebei jiaoyu chubanshe, 2009): 173, 191, 199. Therefore, we can conjecture that this couplet was most likely done in the early 1960s when Shen was about eighty years old. At that age, he was nearly blind from extreme short-sightedness and other eye diseases. It is said that in his old age he wrote calligraphy by feel, because he could not rely on his eyesight. When he wrote, he had someone assist him with positioning the paper.Shen Peifang 沈培芳, Shen Yinmo shufa yishu jiexi沈尹默書法藝術解析 (Nanjing: Jiangsu meishu chubanshe, 2000): 41. Because this couplet has yet to be mounted, we can still observe the folded-lines of the paper that helped Shen Yinmo to position the large characters. Folding paper to form a grid for positioning the characters is common practice among Chinese calligraphers and does not necessarily suggest that Shen Yinmo made an extra effort in creating this particular work. Indeed, it may have been a product from his daily practice, judging from the fact that the work is not dated or dedicated to anyone in particular. In most characters, the brushstrokes are dry and do not have crisp endings, suggesting that he was using an old, worn brush, which may also indicate that he was writing casually for his own pleasure.

Despite the fact that he was writing informally, he gave careful consideration to his brushwork. Many characters show a tendency to slant to the right, with a wide top and narrow bottom, in the style of Mi Fu 米芾 (1051–1107), while other characters, e.g. “lu” 露 and “he” 鶴 are in the style of Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037–1101). Each stroke was executed with a centered tip (zhongfeng 中鋒), which requires that the brush remain upright at all times.Chen Zhenlian 陳振濂, Zhongguo xiandai shufashi 中國現代書法史 (Beijing: Renmin meishu chubanshe; Zhengzhou: Henan meishu chubanshe, 2003): 92. This insistence on an upright brush and “centered tip” was essential to Shen’s teaching and practice of calligraphy throughout his life. Being so well practiced and masterful, we can comprehend and appreciate the ease with which he wrote this large couplet, despite his failing eyesight.

© 2013 by the Seattle Art Museum