Yun Shouping also known as Nantian (1633 – 1690), was a major artist

Chinese art

Chinese art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced in China or by Chinese artists or performers. Early so-called "stone age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly consisting of simple pottery and sculptures. This early period was followed by a series of art...

 of the early Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 Qing dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

. He was regarded as one of the "Six Masters" of the Qing period, together with the Four Wangs

Four Wangs

The Four Wangs were four Chinese landscape painters in the 17th century, all called Wang . They are best known for their accomplishments in shan shui painting.-The painters:...

 and Wú Lì

Wu Li

Wú Lì ; ca. 1632-1718 was a Chinese landscape painter and poet during the Qing Dynasty ....

.

Biography

Yun was born to a prominent but impoverished family in Wujin, Jiangsu

Jiangsu

' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...

 province. He excelled in his classes and was expected to enter into the civil service, but his family could not afford it. Instead, he devoted himself to art; as early as the age of eight he was composing poetry on lotus

Nelumbo nucifera

Nelumbo nucifera, known by a number of names including Indian Lotus, Sacred Lotus, Bean of India, or simply Lotus, is a plant in the monogeneric family Nelumbonaceae...

 blossoms. In his early life, he made a living painting landscapes

Landscape art

Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...

.

As a young man, once he had the means, Yun traveled China and became acquainted with the art of Wang Hui and Zha Shibiao

Zha Shibiao

Zha Shibiao was a landscape painter and calligrapher from Anhui, China. He was affiliated with the Anhui school, otherwise known as the Xin'an School. This school was noted for dry brushstrokes and sparse compositions. His family, and himself, were art collectors and Ming dynasty aristocrats...

. On seeing Wang Hui's landscapes for the first time, Yun felt overawed and gasped, saying "In this art, your learning and talent surpass all. Try as I may, I can only rank second."http://www.npm.gov.tw/english/collections/p037.htm Unwilling to rank second, Yun shifted his focus; he studied flowers, birds, insects, and bamboo. Yun imitated the 11th century artist Xu Xi

Xu Xi

Xu Xi, Xu Xi, Xu Xi, (originally named Xu Su Xi(许素细) (born 1954) is an English language novelist from Hong Kong.She is also the Hong Kong regional editor of Routledge's Encyclopedia of Post-colonial Literature (second edition, 2005) and the editor or co-editor of the following anthologies of Hong...

's mogu

Mogu

Mogu , is a painting skill or technique in traditional Chinese painting. It literally means "boneless".-Derivation of the name:There are mainly two derivatives:...

 (or 'boneless') method, an approach that tried to express art without rigidly defined outlines and forms.

Yun's style was vibrant and expressive; he attempted to display the inner vitality and spirit of his subjects in painting. Yun sought inspiration from the past; his Flower and Fruit (now at the Hong Kong Museum of Art

Hong Kong Museum of Art

The Hong Kong Museum of Art is the main art museum of Hong Kong. The museum was established as the City Hall Museum and Art Gallery in the City Hall in Central by the Urban Council in 1962. In 1991, it was moved to the present premises at 10 Salisbury Road, near the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and...

) imitated the style of the masters of the Yuan dynasty

Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...

. He was unafraid of using strong colors, such as reds and purples, which had traditionally been shunned by Chinese painters as they were seen as gaudy and offensive. He revived the genre of flower paintings in China and became popular throughout the country. Yun's style would be imitated and he became the founder of the Ch'ang-chou school of painting. Yun was also recognized as a prominent calligrapher, in which he followed the style of Chu Suiliang

Chu Suiliang

Chu Suiliang , courtesy name Dengshan , formally Duke of Henan , was a chancellor of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, during the reigns of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Taizong's son Emperor Gaozong...

.

External Links

• Yun Shouping and his Painting Gallery at China Online Museum
• Flower and Fruit, now at the Hong Kong Museum of Art
  Hong Kong Museum of Art
  The Hong Kong Museum of Art is the main art museum of Hong Kong. The museum was established as the City Hall Museum and Art Gallery in the City Hall in Central by the Urban Council in 1962. In 1991, it was moved to the present premises at 10 Salisbury Road, near the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and...
  
  
• Peonies at the National Palace Museum
  National Palace Museum
  The National Palace Museum is an art museum in Taipei. It is the national museum of the Republic of China, and has a permanent collection of over 677,687 pieces of ancient Chinese artifacts and artworks, making it one of the largest in the world. The collection encompasses over 8,000 years of...
  
   of Taiwan
  Taiwan
  Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
  
  
• Peonies at the Smithsonian