Lotus and Egret《荷鹭图轴》

Tang Yuzhao (1602–1672)
Also known as Yuzhao, courtesy name Kongming, and pseudonym Yunke and Banyuan, was from Wujin (present-day Changzhou), Jiangsu. He was the great-grandson of the Ming Confucian scholar and military strategist Tang Shunzhi and a disciple of Sun Shenxing. After the fall of the Ming dynasty, he did not serve the Qing and retired to his hometown “Banyuan.” He was an avid collector and skilled in painting and calligraphy, a pioneer of the Changzhou School of painting.

“Lotus and Egret”
This painting primarily employs the “boneless” technique, creating a delicate and ethereal composition. The lotus flowers are vividly and serenely depicted with soft colors, while an egret with a sharp gaze and detailed feathers stands gracefully beneath the leaves among the floating duckweed. Tang Yuzhao’s style, although slightly less realistic than Yun Shouping’s vivid realism, retains the refined elegance of the late Ming dynasty. The upper right contains a poem and inscription: “Not necessarily as fragrant as orchids, the gentleman among flowers has an especially true taste. Amidst the painting’s shadows, the fragrance disperses, dedicated to the Lotus-picking Man at the Ford. Resembling Elder Ke’s longevity painting, by Banyuan Tang Yuzhao of Pi Ling.” Below the inscription are red seals “Shi Gong” and “Ting.”

唐宇昭（1602—1672），又名禹昭，字孔明、云客，号半园，江苏武进（今常州）人。明代儒学大师、军事家、文学家唐顺之玄孙，孙慎行门人，入清后不仕，在家乡“半园”隐居。富收藏，擅书画，为“常州画派”先驱画家。

此幅《荷鹭图》以没骨法为主，淡逸飘举，荷花写得极为生动、恬静，敷色淡雅。尤其是荷叶下一只白鹭目光炯炯有神，羽毛丝丝可见，在荷花、浮萍间闲庭信步，姿态优美，十分生动。画风与恽寿平相比，虽在造型上略逊于恽寿平的生动真实感，然长处在保留了晚明古雅的风范，格调很高。此画亦见证了恽寿平画风的来源。

右上有题诗款：“岂必如兰嗅始亲，花中君子味尤真。丹青影里分香去，还寄采莲泾上人。画似柯老年翁寿，毗陵半园唐宇昭。”款下钤朱文“石公”印。作品堪称诗书画合璧之作，均清新可诵。唐宇昭画迹传世极少，真迹更是屈指可数，此作精好，极其珍贵。