Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Ke Jiusi
Yuan painter and connoisseur from Xianju who examined the imperial collection as Wenzong's connoisseur of calligraphy at the Kuizhang Pavilion, and painted ink bamboo
A desk holds an unrolled sheet bearing three bold black ink strokes, with a rack of many brushes above it, a stone ink slab and ink stick, a porcelain bowl, a red lacquer box, a dish of red seal paste and a paperweight; a small seated figure shows through a round window onto bamboo.
Also known as Zi Jingzhong · Haodan Qiusheng
Ke Jiusi, courtesy name Jingzhong, styled Danqiusheng, came from Xianju in Taizhou, in present-day Zhejiang, and was the son of Ke Qian. Tugh Temur knew him before taking the throne as Emperor Wenzong, and when the Kuizhang Pavilion was set up in 1329 Ke joined it, first as a secretary and then as its connoisseur of calligraphy and painting, examining the works in the imperial collection; his seals still appear on many surviving masterpieces. Impeached by the censors in the Zhishun reign, he had to leave the capital and settled around Suzhou, where he kept company with Gu Ying and Ni Zan. His bamboo, modelled on Wen Tong, was drawn with a calligrapher's brush; among his surviving works are Bamboo at the Qingbi Pavilion, painted at Ni Zan's studio, and Two Bamboos. He died in 1343, and his poems and essays were gathered as the Danqiusheng ji.
Life and times
Dates 1290 CE–1343 CE