Li Kuchan, Complete Collection of Famous Chinese Painters

Author: Li Kuchan (painter) / Yi E (compiler)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-03-01
Features: The painter, grounded in the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, manifests in the wondrous imagination of the human heart. Standing between heaven and earth, surrounded by all phenomena, the artist blends thought with delight, suddenly sketches forth, and with a bold stroke pursues what they see, hear, and feel. With a resounding cry, they create works of extraordinary brilliance. Our nation's painting tradition has deep roots, dating back to Gu Kaizhi of the Jin Dynasty. For over a thousand years, schools have flourished, with masters emerging in every generation. From the North to the South, talented artisans have appeared, each with distinct styles, forging their own unique fashions. The vast Yangtze River and the majestic Kunlun Mountains are not enough to describe their lofty heights. Later generations, wishing to understand their details and marvels, find it difficult. I, though unable to paint, have studied the works of masters across the ages and their inevitable changes over time, realizing that one must first understand the rules before transcending them. The ancients said that this path allows one to their aspirations—was it so? Reading through the masterpieces of past generations, I find their methods like reflections in a mirror, water in the moonlight—apparent yet elusive; while their lack of rules resembles the boundless blue sky and clear water, vast and endless. Our society gathers works from ancient and modern times, selecting the finest from each era, detailing the lives, artistic theories, technical features, and lineage of these masters. This allows readers to see a glimpse and grasp the whole, understand one painter and grasp an era's art, and through reading the collections of dozens of renowned painters, gain an overview of our nation's millennia-old painting civilization. Due to the passage of time and frequent wars, countless masterpieces have been lost or damaged. Some famous painters left no works behind, others had only a few preserved, and some painters, though celebrated, left no records of their lives—hence, the number of surviving images and introductions is limited. Thus, compiling a few in one volume is better than none. In the past, Ouyang Xun compiled Yiwen Lüji and said, "May every household be rich in rare pearls, and every person hold precious jade, as each contributes their own thoughts." This collection embodies that spirit. The Complete Collection of Famous Chinese Painters is a series of selected works from renowned Chinese painters from ancient to modern times, from Gu Kaizhi of the Jin Dynasty to Guan Shanyue, who passed away in the contemporary era. Each book reflects the painter's life, artistic characteristics, technical features, and artistic theories, allowing readers to grasp a glimpse. This volume offers a glimpse into the artistic career of the contemporary master Li Kuchan, revealing the difficulty of achieving artistic success.