Lucidity in a Prosperous Era: Guangdong Paintings of the Qing Dynasty

Landscape Painting

Beyond the Mainstream: Landscape Painting

Although Lingnan art was far from the centre of mainstream artistic activity, its style remained closely connected to the traditional art world, especially in landscape painting. Lingnan artists such as Gao Yan, Monk Shendu, and Luo Yang drew inspiration from the ‘Wu School’. Wang Houlai continued the artistic traditions of the ‘Xin’an School’. Li Jian adopted and built upon Shitao’s innovative techniques, while Huang Bi, Xie Lansheng, and Deng Ruqiong were heavily influenced by Huang Gongwang and Dong Qichang. He Chong inherited the style of Hua Yan, a representative of the ‘Yangzhou School’. Furthermore, renowned landscape masters, such as Li Tang, Mi Fu, Wang Meng, Wu Zhen, Ni Zan, Yun Shouping, Wang Shimin, Wang Hui, and Xi Gang, all had a profound influence on Guangdong landscape painting during the Qing dynasty.

Painters who were also poets and scholars – such as Wu Rongguang, Zhang Weiping, and Chen Pu – produced works that expressed refined literati sensibilities towards nature. Meanwhile, painters like Li Kui, Chen Qiaosen, Luo Qing, and Liang Yuwei – with their multiple distinctive and unconventional styles – became alternative figures within the mainstream art scene. Together, they helped shape the pluralistic and individualistic character typical of Guangdong landscape painting in the Qing dynasty. The formation and development of Qing-period Guangdong landscape painting were thus characterised by a process of gradual convergence, assimilation, and integration with the mainstream painting styles and traditions.