Description

signature to read Li Yin. W: 21 1/8 in. (53.5cm) x H: 39 5/8 in. (101.5cm) Li Yin(1610-1685), styled Jinsheng, was also known by her literary name "Shi'an" and "Kanshan Yishi". As a native of Qiantang, she was a famous courtesan in Jiangsu and Zhejiang and later became concubine of Ge Zhengqi, Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. Strong in ink landscape and flowers and birds, she modeled after Mi Fu and Mi Youren of the Song dynasty in landscape by using ink and wash and "covering trees and rocks with mist and clouds". On the basis of the freehand brushwork of Chen Chun, she regarded nature as her teacher and absorbed inspiration from real life. At last, she avoided the drawbacks of the works by women painters like narrow composition and weak strokes. Her natural and unrestrained artistic features won commendation of her contemporaries.