吴观岱，初名宗泰，字念康，号洁翁，别号有小 梅花庵主、鱼陆散人、溪山画隐、觚饮道人等，江苏无锡人。工书善画，山水人物兼妙，尤擅画梅。为“江南四吴”之一。

民国18年(1929年)逝世，终年67岁。

 家贫，少时在酱酒店当学徒，以津贴购笔墨纸颜料，深夜学画。因性喜丹青、不愿为商店学徒，后从潘昼堂画师学画，每月学费由叔父供给。离开业师以后，他常到裱画店观摩名画，回家即行临摹。经过勤学苦练，学画有成。

吴观岱壮年得同乡廉泉的帮助，偕去北京，结识京华名家，饱览历代名画，悉心揣摩，技艺大进。后由廉泉荐入清宫如意馆当供奉，临摹历代名人手笔，并为光绪帝绘课本故事，声誉鹊起。常救济穷困画友，为人称道。曾在北京大学讲授画学，他告诫学生,习画时先观旧迹，别其真伪， “不然，则入手必差矣”。回无锡后，求画者纷至沓来，但他惜墨如金，不肯轻易下笔。得其画者，视为珍宝。人多以“江南老画师”称之。锡城名画家诸健秋、秦古柳均出自他的门下。他工花卉，兼擅山水、人物。初师潘昼堂，继学恽寿平，得其秀雅之气。山水作品意境开阔，苍健浑朴，人物画生动。又精研书法。作水墨梅竹，以书体入画，别有意趣，曾被真赏斋印为信笺。

 有《烟波罢钓图》、《仿宋人夏木山居图》、《江帆图》、《虹桥遗事图》、《松壑鸣泉图》、《寒梅冷月图》、《采莲图》等。宣统三年(1911)文明书局出版《吴观岱南湖诗意画册》，并著有《觚庐画草》行世。

部分书法

近现代-吴观岱部分书法：草书 立轴 水墨纸本， 草书 四屏 墨色纸本，草书七言诗 四屏 纸本

 Wu Guandai (1862-1929) is a famous Zongtai, who is also known as Niankang. At the age of 40, he changed his name to Guandai. He is named Yulu, Jieweng and later Jiangnan cloth. Born in the first year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1862), Wuxi people.

Brief Introduction to Characters

Wu Guandai, first named Zong Tai, Zinian Kang, No. Jieweng, also known as the owner of Xiaomeihua Temple, Yulu Sanren, Xishan Paiyin, Yinyin Taoist, etc., Wuxi people in Jiangsu Province. He is good at painting and calligraphy, especially in plum painting. It is one of the "Four Wus in the South of the Yangtze River".

He died in 1929 at the age of 67.

Paul Mauriat's History

Poor family, apprenticeship in the sauce hotel as a child, to subsidize the purchase of ink and paper pigments, late at night to learn painting. Happy because of his nature, he refused to be an apprentice in the shop. Later, he learned painting from Pan Tiantang's painter. The monthly tuition fee was provided by his uncle. After leaving his master, he often went to the mounting shop to see famous paintings, and went home to copy them. Through hard study and hard practice, we have made great achievements in painting. [2]

In his prime, Wu Guandai, with the help of Lianquan, a fellow countryman, went to Beijing together to make friends with famous Jinghua artists, enjoy the famous paintings of past dynasties and make great progress in his skills. Later, Lianquan recommended it to the Ruyi Hall of the Qing Palace as a sacrifice, copying the handwriting of celebrities of past dynasties, and drawing textbook stories for Emperor Guangxu, which gained a reputation. He is praised for helping poor painters. He once taught painting at Peking University. He warned students that they should look at the past before they study painting. Otherwise, they would be worse off. After returning to Wuxi, many painters came to Wuxi, but he was too fond of ink to write easily. Those who get their paintings are regarded as treasures. Most people call it "the old painter in the south of the Yangtze River". Zhu Jianqiu and Qin Guliu, famous painters in Xicheng, came from his door. He works in flowers and is good at landscapes and figures. Pan Xitang, the first teacher, succeeded Yun Shouping in his studies and gained his elegance. The artistic conception of landscape works is broad, vigorous and simple, and the figure paintings are vivid. He also studies calligraphy. It is not interesting to make ink plum and bamboo, which is painted in calligraphy. It was once printed as a stationery by Zhenfangzhai.

Works handed down from generation to generation

There are "smoke wave stop fishing map", "imitation of the Song people Xiamushan residence map", "Jiangfan map", "Hongqiao legacy map", "Song Gu Ming Spring map", "cold plum moon map", "Picking lotus map" and so on. In the third year of Xuantong (1911), the Civilization Bookstore published Wu Guandai's Poetic Painting Book of South Lake and published Yu Lu Painting Grass.

Part of Calligraphy

Modern-Wu Guandai's Part of Calligraphy: Cursive Vertical Axis Ink Paper, Four Screens Ink Paper, Seven-Character Poetry Four Screens Paper