第94章 Paintings in the Qing Dynasty1644-1911

Qing Dynasty is the final chapter in the history of ancient Chinese painting. During the period， all kinds of paintings mixed and huge changes took place. Literati painting continued its development pace and became a trend. Pseudo-classic green coloring landscape painting， containing elegant artistic condition， seemed a fairyland. They were used to show ideals and pursuits of literati. Imperial-court decorative painting reached a peak season during the period， absorbing techniques of Western painting. Since working as a court painter， Giuseppe Castiglione， an Italian， learned skills of traditional Chinese painting and influenced other Chinese painters including Qing emperors. The Eastern and Western painting arts mixed in the palace of the Qing Dynasty. As a result， a number of artistic works with both Oriental and Western styles were created. Meanwhile， imperial-court paintings in the Qing Dynasty presented a different look from previous dynasties. Landscapists continued their pace of restoring old traditions in the early Qing period， while the technique of freehand wash painting became popular in the late Qing period. Except new art schools and styles， famous painters and masters also appeared， such as “Four Great Wang-surnamed Painters（Wang Jian， Wang Min， Wang Hui and Wang Yuanqi），”“Six Great Painters in the Early Qing Dynasty（Wang Jian， Wang Min， Wang Hui， Wang Yuanqi， Wu Li and Yun Shouping），”“Four Junior Wang-surnamed Painters（Wang Yu， Wang Su， Wang Chen， Wang Jiu）， ”“Four Later Wang-surnamed Painters（Wang Sanxi， Wang Tingzhou， Wang Tingyuan and Wang Mingshao）， ”“Changzhou school of painting（also known as “Yun school of painting” or “Piling school of painting”），”“Jiang style flower-and-bird painting，”“Four Monk Painters（Shi Tao， Zhu Da， Shi Xi and Jian Jiang）” and “Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou（Jin Nong， Huang Shen， Wang Shishen， Li Shan， Zheng Xie， Li Fangying， Gao Xiang and Luo Pin）。” Qing emperors liked to collect ancient calligraphy and paintings， developed imperial-court painting and actively drew paintings themselves. It therefore gave a great boost to the development of painting art in the Qing Dynasty. Imperial-court paintings during the period usually had huge size， imposing composition， fine and delicate brushwork and prose inscriptions of Qing emperors. They are indeed rare artistic works. Qing artists stressed research on paintings of previous ages and analysis of their merits and demerits. In addition， systematic theories were formed and many great artistic works were created. It is a notable characteristic of the period. The number of Qing paintings is huge， but only a few mid-Qing Dynasty famous works are selected here. Many of the selections were previously kept in the palace of the Qing Dynasty， but later moved overseas and were collected by major museums all over the world.