A 'Yang Meng' lingbi rock inscribed by Luo Pin, Qing dynastyand an album and a painting by Liu Dan (b. 1953)清 羅聘題靈璧「養蒙」石供 《兩峯為解谷題》款連 劉丹畫養蒙石八面容姿畫冊及畫軸superbly carved in the form of a continuous craggy mountain range, inscribed Yangmeng (the cultivation of the ignorant) in seal script, signed Liangfeng wei Xiegu ti ('Inscribed for Xiegu by Liangfeng'), wood stand, together with an album of eight leaves, a titleslip and a painting by Liu Dan (b. 1953), featuring the Yangmenglingbi rock, ink on paper, the painting signed Liu Dan, dated dingyou year (2017) and with one seal of the artist劉丹 《養蒙石八面容姿》水墨紙本 八開冊署簽：金陵劉丹畫養蒙石八面容姿。鈐印：劉丹畫印。題扉頁：養蒙。鈐印：劉丹之印。劉丹 畫軸水墨紙本 二零一七年作款識：橫看成嶺側成峰。丁酉年仲夏劉丹作於北京。鈐印：劉丹印。lingbi rock: 16.8 cmeach leaf of the album: 22.5 by 34.8 cmpainting: 30.8 by 345.5 cm拍品专文: The present scholar’s rock bears the signature of Luo Pin (1733-99), sobriquet Liangfeng, later known as Hua si zhi seng (Monk of the temple of flowers). A native of Yangzhou, Jiangsu, Luo excelled in flower, figure and landscape paintings as well as evocative depictions of ghosts and spirits, a genre that deviates from the traditional artistic repertoire. He was also noted as a skilled calligrapher, especially in seal script, which is evident on the present scholar’s rock. Luo studied under the famous artist Jin Nong (1687-1763), together with whom he is celebrated as one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou (Yangzhou baguai), a group of artists that rejected the orthodox school of painting in favour of an individualist and expressive style. This rock was probably dedicated to Ma Yueguan (1688-1755), sobriquet Xiegu, a poet and collector of books from a salt merchant family who resided in Yangzhou. Ma was friends with many of the famous literati of the time, including Zheng Banqiao (1693-1766) and Luo’s teacher Jin Nong. A generous patron, Ma supported these scholars through financial hardship and sponsored the publication of their literary works. Considering that Ma passed away in 1755 when Luo was 22 years old, the dedication of this rock must have been inscribed early in Luo’s career.Born in Nanjing, Liu Dan (b. 1953) is an ink painter who insists on developing traditional art based on its innate principles while other Chinese artists eagerly explore new concepts and mediums. The scholar’s stone is one of Liu Dan’s favourite and most frequently revisited subjects, which has been the focus of passionate connoisseurship in both the imperial court and literati circles in Chinese history since the Tang dynasty. Admired for its complex patterns and organic textures suggesting infinite natural forms, the rock serves as a microcosmic symbol of the forms in the universe. Fascinated by the ever-changing facets of scholar’s stones and their expression of Daoist philosophy, Liu Dan has pursued their study in his paintings since the 1980s in order to explore the structure of Chinese landscape paintings. While his painting techniques evidence a mastery of traditional painting and his subjects are seemingly representational, his works are meant to be viewed as interpretations of how one judges and understands information. Liu Dan creates portraits of scholar’s rocks as an individual study of observation. With his dry and textured brushstrokes, he gradually reveals the layers of the stones’ multi-faceted surfaces as if re-sculpturing their three dimensions onto two-dimensional paper.