「玉齋」主人王南屏（1924-1985），江蘇常州人，二十世紀最卓越的中國書畫鑒賞家之一。在父親影響下，與書畫結緣，四十年代於滬上結識葉恭綽，蒙其親炙，弱冠即出重金購得米友仁〈瀟湘奇觀圖卷〉，繼而向龐虛齋等收藏大家請益，自此在收藏界嶄露頭角。

王南屏自幼習書法，又精通國學，注定其偏好文人畫與書法之取向，從而建立起兼具豐富性與獨立審美品味之收藏，其中不乏可媲美博物館之劇跡、孤品。他一生行跡四方，四十年代末移居香港，六十年代加入敏求精舍後，足跡逐漸涉入北美，與美國漢學者、收藏家之互通，不僅啟迪了海外學者對中國藝術之研究，對諸多海外博物館中國藝術之完善充實，亦功不可沒。他曾說收藏「當不以秘藏為寶，能以公諸同好為樂。」這份對藝術的無私與熱愛，同樣傳遞給子女，在他身後，玉齋珍藏於美國各地及香港舉辦展覽，並集結付梓，家屬更將部分藏品捐贈予海内外博物館，讓更多人受惠於藝術之熏陶。

這些我珍藏的畫作，大部分是父親王南屏（1924-1985）和母親房淑嫣留給我的，一些是自己搜購，長久以來未有展出，也很少給他人看過。二十多歲始，我在父親指導下開始收藏。我們一起參觀拍賣會預展並參與競投，他不想被其他人認出，通常坐在後排，以免無意中引發對他心儀作品的激烈競爭。當他認爲有些未售出的作品是被忽視的遺珠時，會讓我向拍賣行提出拍後報價。我們是父女團隊，也是追求卓越畫作的盟友。

我非常珍視我們一起欣賞和討論畫作的時光，父親的收藏哲學和審美觀念對我的品味影響深遠。現在我已七十多歲，覺得這些作品應該與其他藝術愛好者分享。沒有人可以永久擁有這些作品，即使帝王也不行。作為臨時看管人，應該將它們傳給那些可以像我一樣數十年如一日欣賞和愛惜它們的人。我女兒是一位藝術家和藝術史學者，我也為她留下部分藏品，延續家庭傳統。

在我大概五歲時的一天，父親帶我去了蘇州。天氣炎熱，我們參觀了幾個旅遊景點。然而，最令人難忘的，是在一個收藏家家裏度過的幾個小時。父親和那位紳士一直沉浸在討論中，花數小時觀看卷軸畫。我累壞了（作爲一個五歲的孩子，也很無聊），在某個時刻終於撐不住睡著了。最後，我們乘火車返回上海。很久以後，母親告訴我那次旅行非常「成功」，因爲父親從那位收藏家手中購入了不少重要作品。

我在香港長大，住在家裏的那些年，父親時常沉浸在看畫中。他說他從不感覺寂寞，因爲這些畫作就像老朋友一樣，他覺得可以通過作品與藝術家交流。他主要收藏明清時期的作品，因爲更早期的作品很少，也難以覓到。父親告訴我，要認真觀看大量的作品來「磨礪」自己的眼睛。看到好的及不好的藝術品會訓練你的眼睛，使你能夠區分真正的藝術品與贋品之間的差異。

十幾歲時，我離家去美國讀大學。父親經常派遣我去參觀畫廊、拍賣行和博物館。那時候，中國書畫很少受到公衆關注。六十年代末，父親所在的香港敏求精舍邀請學者來訪，增進學者與藏家之間的交流。包括伯克萊的高居翰、哈佛的羅樾、耶魯的班宗華和納爾遜‧阿特金斯藝術博物館的武麗生等知名學者都來到香港，與當地的收藏家會面，並受邀觀看父親的藏品。

七十年代，父親開始訪問美國，並在加利福尼亞州的聖芭芭拉購買了一處房產。他經常到紐約參與拍賣會，或參觀博物館。我總是陪在他身邊，直到意識到他有能力獨自到訪美國各地的博物館和收藏家那裏。他年輕時沒有學過英文，但是他學習得很快。儘管五十年代剛到香港時，他不會講英文，但很快意識到英語對於開展業務是必不可少的。因此，他聘請了一位英文老師每天給他上課，變得非常熟練，能夠運用英文與研究中國藝術的美國學者充分交流，其中許多人還成爲終生的朋友。

雖然父親並不收藏同時代藝術家的作品，一旦發現我對它們有濃厚興趣，便鼓勵我追求這個類別的收藏，並在這方面給予我指導。我為作他的長女和學生而感到自豪。

Wong Nan-ping (1924-1985), born in Changzhou of Jiangsu Province, was one of the most distinguished connoisseurs of Chinese painting and calligraphy in the 20th century. Under his father’s influence, Wong began his own adventure of collects ing paintings and calligraphy. In the 1940s, Wong met Kung Cho Yeh, who took him under his pupillage. At the tender age of 20 already, Wong purchased, for a fine price, Mi Youren’s Rare Views of Xiao Xiang and went on to seek the teachings of prominent collects ors including Pang Yuanji. Through his endeavors, Wong has made a name for himself in the connoisseur world ever since.

With a strong affinity for calligraphy and Chinese studies since youth, Wong Nan-ping’s talents predestined him to a lifelong appreciation for literati painting and calligraphy. A man of exceptional taste, Wong amassed a mélange of vividly rich and idiosyncratic works, many of which are on par with the museum exhibits. Throughout his life, Wong traveled extensively. By the end of the 1940s, he moved to Hong Kong, and in the 1960s joined the Min Chiu Society, thus embarking upon a road of cultural exchange with Chinese scholars and collects ors in North America. In doing so, Wong sparked a new wave of foreign interest in Chinese arts, much to the delight and benefit of the Chinese art archives in museums overseas. Famously known to have said the following, “collects ing should not be an act of secrecy, it is the very act of spreading joy among others”, Wong’s selfless devotion to art became a family legacy. Even in his death, the collects ion of Wong Nan-ping has continued to be exhibited throughout the United States and in Hong Kong. Courtesy of Wong’s family donating parts of the collects ion to museums at home and abroad, individuals can taste the therapeutic nature of art.

Paintings from my collects ion—mostly bequeathed to me by my father Wong Nan-ping and my mother Anna Fang Wong, and some purchased by myself—have not been exhibited or seen by others for many years. My collects ing activities, which was guided by my father, started in my 20s as he and I visited auction previews and bid in salerooms together. Usually, he wanted to sit in the back rows because he didn’t want to be recognized by others and inadvertently start bidding wars on his desired pieces. When he deemed an unsold piece an overlooked treasure, he would send me to make the auction house an after-sale offer. We were a father-and-daughter team as well as allies in our quest for exceptional paintings.

I greatly treasure the t.mes we had spent together looking at and discussing paintings. His collects ing philosophy and his aesthetics have made a lasting impact on my own taste. Now that I am in my 70s, I feel that these works should be shared with other art lovers. No one can own these forever, not even emperors. We are only temporary custodians and should pass them on to those who can enjoy and appreciate them as much as I have done so over the decades. I have set aside a part of the collects ion for my daughter, who is an artist and an art historian, so the family heritage can be preserved.

When I was about five years old, my father took me to Suzhou with him one day. It was extremely hot and we visited a few tourist sights. However, the most.mes morable part of that trip was that we spent hours at a collects or’s house. My father and that gentleman were engrossed in discussion and spent hours viewing scrolls of paintings. I was so tired (and bored, being a five-year-old), I fell asleep at one point. Finally, we took the train back to Shanghai. Years later, my mother told me that was one very “successful” trip because my father bought several important works from that collects or.

 
I grew up in Hong Kong, and throughout my years living at home, my father often immersed himself in looking at paintings. He said he was never lonely, because the paintings were like old friends, and he felt he could commune with the artists through their works. He mainly collects ed Ming and Qing dynasty works, because earlier works were rare and difficult to find. My father told me that one needs to look at a lot of art closely to “sharpen” one’s eyes. Seeing good and bad art will train your eyes to recognize the difference between authentic ones and fakes.

I left home in my teenage years to attend college in the United Sates. My father sent.mes to visit galleries, auction houses, and museums frequently. In those days, Chinese paintings and calligraphy received very little public attention. In the late 60s, Minqiu Society in Hong Kong, where my father was a member, invited American scholars to visit in an effort to increase the dialogue between Chinese art scholars and collects ors. Leading figures such as James Cahill (of Berkeley), Max Loehr (of Harvard), Richard Barnhart (of Yale), Marc Wilson (of Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) came to Hong Kong to meet with local collects ors and were invited to view my father’s collects ion.

My father started visiting the US in the 70s and bought a house in Santa Barbara, California. He came to New York City regularly to attend auctions and to visit museums, always accompanied by me, until I realized that he was capable of traveling on his own to visit museums and collects ors all over the US by himself. I knew he didn’t study English when he was young, but he proved to be a fast learner. Although he didn’t speak English when he first arrived in Hong in the 50s, he quickly realized that English was essential to conduct business. As such, he hired an English tutor to give him daily lessons. He became quite proficient and was able to communicate effectively with American scholars of Chinese art, many of whom became lifelong friends.

While he didn’t collects works by his contemporaries, once he discovered my burgeoning interest in them, he encouraged me to pursue collects ing in this category and mentored me along the way. I am proud to be his eldest child and his student.