Figures Singing Freely in Misty Landscape Leaf 1

Li Jian, courtesy name Jianmin, art name Erqiao, was a native of Shunde, Guangdong province. He started his career as a skilled portrait painter, but later made his name as a landscape painter in the tradition of Shitao, Ni Zan and Wu Zhen.

Having been defeated by Qing power, Ming loyalists retreated to the South and gathered in the Guangdong region. The Qing army raided Guangzhou in the 7th year of the Shunzhi reign (1650), and after experiencing the massive killing and robbery, the natives further deserted the sovereign. Consequently, the influence of the “Orthodox School” on Guangdong painting was minor. On the other hand, the individualist Shitao, who was befriended by the local literary coterie, became a lasting inspiration to Guangdong painters.

Li painted this album at the age of forty-three, that was in the 54th year of the Qianlong reign (1789). He repeatedly mentioned in the inscriptions specific masters of the Five Dynasties and Song periods, including Dong Yuan, Mi Fu, Wang Meng and Huang Gongwang. Although the name of Shitao appears only once, his profound influence on Li is evident in these paintings. For instance, Shi’s characteristic features of damp brush and heavy ink with light color washes, together with trees, rocks and figures in archaic forms are applied to these examples of Li’s later work.