Li Ch'eng:
Luxuriant Forest among Distant Peaks
Li-Ch'eng (917-967), a descendant of the T'ang imperial lineage, was born in Shantung. He made a comprehensive survey of the T'ang and Five Dynasties traditions, and pioneered a new realm in the expressions of ink painting. His works became so rare by the late Northern Sung times that Mi Fei (Mi Fu) even set forth the theory that Li Ch'eng's works no longer existed. In this work, the painter freely uses the exquisite ink and water to thoroughly depict a profound landscape showing the harmonious mountains, archaic trees, partially hidden multi-storied buildings, human figures etc. This piece occupies an extremely important position in tracing the origins of Northern Sung landscape painting along with "A Solitary Temple amid Clearing Peaks" in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.( Collection of the Liaoning Provincial Museum )

SR11 Li Ch'eng: Luxuriant Forest among Distant Peaks Sung dynasty handscroll/ink on silk handscroll : 46.0 x 298.0cm (including postscript) 85,000yen