Painting labeled "unknown artist" but is signed..translation?

[Wdanhof]

Hello everyone, 

 

I inherited a painting from my grandmother recently but I dont know much about it. It's an original piece, not a reprint, but the label on the back of the frame says artist unknown. I messaged with a Chinese friend from back in college and he said the print on the front is a name but wasnt able to provide much more. I was hoping someone here could help? 

 

Thank you!

 

[Publius]

Well, it's a name, 一青 (Yiqing), but we still don't know who 一青 is.

It could be a pen name. Even if it's real, that's only a given name. It's like signing a painting with "John". John who? John Doe.

 

[Wdanhof]

Thanks for the information, that returns a couple Chinese artists. Could you tell me how common that name is at all?

[Publius]

Um, moderately common?

X + 一Y is quite common for a Chinese name.

The artist didn't leave any other clue. No family name, no studio/study name, no place name, no title, no date.

And it's not like he's so famous he goes by a single name like Madonna, Bono.

So my guess is he's just an "unknown artist" who didn't even expect to be known.

[889]

You're not the first person to ask about this painter.

 

http://jd.cang.com/401098.html (no answer there)