Qiu Ying

Qiu Ying was a Chinese painter who specialized in the gongbi brush technique. Qiu Ying's courtesy name was Shifu, and his art name was Shizhou. He was born to a peasant family in Taicang. Moving with his family to Suzhou, Qiu Ying was apprenticed as a lacquer artisan. Despite his family’s humble origins, he had natural talent and skill in painting. He later learned the art of painting from the famous artist Zhou Chen and imitated ancient works of Tang and Song dynasties, becoming so successful that his copies and the originals were indistinguishable. He painted with the support a few of wealthy patrons. Three of his best patrons were art collectors. One was Chen Guan, from Suzhou. The other two were both younger than Qiu: Zhou Fenglai, from nearby Kunshan, and the well-known wealthy collector Xiang Yuanbian, whose home was in Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province. With his special gift for copying paintings, Qiu Ying found favor among collectors, bringing him an opportunity to copy and learn from Song and Yuan dynasty paintings in the collections of the Jiangnan area and greatly broadening his artistic scope.