Old is new again at Beijing art museum

Updated: Oct 29, 2020 By Yang Xiaoyu chinadaily.com.cn Print

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A sculpture of Huang Gongwang, part of Chinese sculptor Li Xiangqun’s *Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty*, seen under a pine at the Song Art Museum in Beijing.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

For example, sculptor Li Xiangqun's Four Master Painters of the Yuan Dynasty, musing under the shades of the greeting-guest pines in the museum's court, conjures up images of ancient Chinese painting.

The four art giants of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) are Wang Meng, Ni Zan, Wu Zhen, and Huang Gongwang, creator of the world-famous landscape painting Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains.

The way the sculptor carved out these figures reminds viewers of the xieyi style of classic Chinese ink painting, which features a reduction in detailed brushstrokes.

These sculptures also bring out the literati painting tradition of Chinese ink art. The four masters blazed a trail in the tradition of this genre, which emphasizes the erudition of the painters who fused their craft with poetry and calligraphy.

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