Li Tang (,

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Xigu 晞古; c. 1050 – 1130)Barnhart 1997, p. 373. was a Chinese

landscape painter Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composi ...

who practised at

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

and

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

during the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

. He forms a link between earlier painters such as

Guo Xi Guo Xi () ( 1020 – c. 1090)Barnhart: Page 372. Guo Xi's style name was Chunfu (淳夫） was a Chinese landscape painter from Henan ProvinceCi hai: Page 452 who lived during the Northern Song dynasty. One text entitled "The Lofty Message of ...

Fan Kuan Fan Zhongzheng (c. 960 – c. 1030), courtesy name Zhongli, better known by his pseudonym Fan Kuan (), was a Chinese landscape painter of the Song dynasty. ''Travelers among Mountains and Streams'', a large hanging scroll, is Fan Kuan's best kno ...

and Li Cheng and later artists such as

Xia Gui Xia Gui (; fl. 1195–1224), courtesy name Yuyu (禹玉), was a Chinese landscape painter of the Song dynasty. Very little is known about his life, and only a few of his works survive, but he is generally considered one of China's greatest ...

and Ma Yuan. He perfected the technique of "axe-cut" brush-strokes.

Biography

Li Tang was born ca. 1050, a native of Heyang. Already in his early years he earned his living by painting. Sometime after 1100, under Emperor Huizong, he earned the highest rank in the Painting Academy at the court in Bianjing (now

). He survived the invasion by the Jurchen Jin dynasty in 1126–27, and, together with the court, moved to Qiantang (now

), which became the capital city of the newly established Southern Song Dynasty. He continued to serve as painter in the court under Emperor Gaozong, and died circa 1130.

Character of his art

Li was among the most influential of the early Southern Song landscape artists and had many followers. He represented a vital link between the Northern Song school (

, Li Cheng, and others), and the later Southern Song painters, such as

and Ma Yuan, both of whom studied Li's art. He developed and perfected the technique of the so-called "ax-cut" brushstrokes, which gave rocks and mountains a particularly fine quality.

"Wind in Pines Among a Myriad Valleys"

As with most Song artists, few of Li Tang's paintings survive, and most are of questionable authorship. The large

hanging scroll A hanging scroll is one of the many traditional ways to display and exhibit East Asian painting and calligraphy. The hanging scroll was displayed in a room for appreciation; it is to be distinguished from the handscroll, which was narrower and ...

''Wind in Pines Among a Myriad Valleys'' (also known as ''Whispering Pines in the Mountains''; National Palace Museum,

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

) is the only painting that bears a clear signature by the artist, which is placed on one of the peaks in the top section. It reads: "Painted by Li Tang of Ho-yang in Spring of the ''chia-ch'en'' year of the Hsüan-ho Reign of the Great Song ynasty" The texture of the rocks in this painting is a standard example of the "ax-cut" strokes technique.

Other attributed works

Li Tang, Gathering Wild Herbs, Palace Museum, Beijing

Other works commonly attributed to Li Tang are '' Intimate Scenery of River and Mountains'', a long landscape scroll, and ''Sitting on Rocks Gazing at the Mist'', both in the possession of the National Palace Museum.

Notes

References

* Barnhart, R. M. et al. (1997). Three thousand years of Chinese painting. New Haven, Yale University Press. *Richard Edwards: ''The Landscape Art of Li T'ang''. Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, Volume 12, 1958, pp. 48–60
JSTOR
*Richard Barnhart: ''Li T'ang (c.1050-c.1130) and the Kōtō-In Landscapes''. The Burlington Magazine, volume 114, issue 830, May 1972 (special edition for Chinese landscape painting), pp. 304–311, 313-314
JSTOR
*Dorothy Perkins: ''Encyclopedia of China: History and Culture''. Routledge, 2013, , p. 280 ()

External links

Landscapes Clear and Radiant: The Art of Wang Hui (1632-1717)
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Li Tang (see index)
Sung and Yuan paintings
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Li Tang (see list of paintings)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Tang 1130 deaths 1050s births 11th-century Chinese painters 12th-century Chinese painters Painters from Henan People from Jiaozuo Song dynasty landscape painters