The Pine Spring Among Misty Peaks

清朝 簑喦繪松泉翠楤煙壑圖 紙本水墨

Hua Yan spent most of his life in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province. Merchants in that city had the government monopoly on the sale of salt in China, and as a result were immensely wealthy. The artists they sponsored, like Hua Yan, often painted in unorthodox styles. The Pine Spring, however, is closely related in style to works done by orthodox painters who were his contemporaries. In addition to landscapes, Hua is best known for painting birds, animals, and plants.

Hua Yan's inscription reads:
A pine spring, blue kingfisher barricade.
Vines on jutting boulders make smoky hollows,
And elsewhere there are actual ravines.
Green, green is the ink.

Artist's biography:
Hua Yan is considered one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, a group of professional artists attracted to that city by the patronage of its wealthy salt merchants. He is best known for his loose and spontaneous brushwork and free compositions. But as this painting demonstrates, Hua was also capable of creating highly detailed landscapes in styles practiced by the educated elite.