Li Tang

Author: Li Tang (Song Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Li Tang (1066—1150) was a painter of the late Northern Song Dynasty and early Southern Song Dynasty. His courtesy name was Xigu, and he was from Heyang Sancheng (now Meng County, Henan). During the reign of Emperor Huizong Zhao Ji, he was admitted to the Imperial Painting Academy. After the Southern Expedition, he fled to Lin'an (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang) and was recommended by General Shao Yuan. He was appointed as a court painter at the age of nearly eighty. He excelled in landscape painting, with sharp and vigorous brushwork. He was also skilled in figure painting, initially resembling Li Gonglin, but later his clothing folds became square and rigid. Together with Liu Songnian, Ma Yuan, and Xia Gui, he is known as the "Four Masters of the Southern Song Dynasty" and had a significant influence on later generations. His surviving works include "Wanhè Sōngfēngtú" (Ten Thousand Gorges with Pines), "Qīngxī Yúyǐntú" (Clear Stream and Fisherman), "Cǎiwēitú" (Gathering White Mulberry Leaves), "Jìnwén Gōng Fùguótú" (Jin Wen Gong Restores the State), and "Cūnyī tú" (Village Doctor) among others.