The Four Masters of the Yuan dynasty () is a name used to collectively describe the four
Chinese painters:
Huang Gongwang,
Wu Zhen,
Ni Zan
Ni Zan (; 1301–1374) was a Chinese painter during the Yuan Dynasty, Yuan and early Ming Dynasty, Ming periods. Along with Huang Gongwang, Wu Zhen (painter), Wu Zhen, and Wang Meng (painter), Wang Meng, he is considered to be one of the Four M ...
, and
Wang Meng, who were active during the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
(1271–1368). They were revered during the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
and later periods as major
exponent
In mathematics, exponentiation, denoted , is an operation involving two numbers: the ''base'', , and the ''exponent'' or ''power'', . When is a positive integer, exponentiation corresponds to repeated multiplication of the base: that is, i ...
s of the tradition of “
literati painting” (''
wenrenhua''), which was concerned more with individual expression and learning than with outward representation and immediate visual appeal.
Huang Gongwang and Wu Zhen belonged to the earlier generation of artists in the Yuan period and consciously emulated the work of ancient masters, especially the pioneering artists of the
Five Dynasties period, such as
Dong Yuan
Dong Yuan (, Gan: dung3 ngion4; c. 934 – c. 962) was a Chinese painter.
He was born in Zhongling (钟陵; present-day Jinxian County, Jiangxi Province).Cihai: Page 599. Dong Yuan was active in the Southern Tang Kingdom of the Five Dynast ...
and
Juran, who rendered landscape in a broad, almost
Impressionistic
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
manner, with coarse brushstrokes and wet ink washes. While these painters were also respected by the two younger Yuan masters, the restrained thinness of Ni Zan and the almost embroidered richness of Wang Meng distinguished their work from that of their immediate predecessors.
The work of the Four Masters spurred experimentation with novel brushstroke techniques, with a new attention to the vocabulary of brush manipulation.
See also
*
Four Masters of the Ming dynasty
The Four Masters of the Ming dynasty () are a traditional grouping in Chinese art history of four famous Chinese painters that lived during the Ming dynasty. The group consists of Shen Zhou (1427–1509), Wen Zhengming (1470–1559), Tang Yin (14 ...
*
Six Masters of the early Qing period
The Six Masters of the early Qing period () were a group of major China, Chinese artists who worked in the 17th and early 18th centuries during the Qing dynasty. Also known as orthodox masters, they continued the tradition of the scholar-painter, ...
(
Four Wangs)
Notes
References
*Farrer, Anne, in
Rawson, Jessica (ed). ''The British Museum Book of Chinese Art'', 2007 (2nd edn), British Museum Press,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Four Masters Of The Yuan dynasty
Yuan dynasty painters
Quartets