Ni Zan
Encyclopedia : N : NI : NIZ : Ni Zan
Ní Zàn (倪瓚) (1301-1374) is considered to be one of the four Yuan masters. He was born into a wealthy family in Wuxi. At an early point his father died, but his brother was apparently a comfort so his early life is described as happy. Later he gave up his wealth to live on a houseboat in Lake Tai. There are several explanations for this. One states he was a patriot who lived there until Chinese rule was restored in 1368. This despite the fact he was born after the Yuan Dynasty began. A related version states he fled to Lake Tai due to the violence that came from the decline of the Yuan. A less flattering theory states he lost his wealth due to alcoholism. He was noted for using very little ink in his paintings, giving them a look described as "elegant" or "simple", and having landscapes devoid of people.
In his personal life he was known as a carefree man with a fondness for alcohol. A famous tale concerning him gives a sense of both those aspects. In this story he got drunk and made a peculiar painting of bamboo. When the painting was criticized for looking nothing like bamboo he allegedly stated, "Ah, but a total lack of resemblance is hard to achieve; not everyone can manage it."
References
- Masterpieces of Chinese Art (page 90), by Rhonda and Jeffrey Cooper, Todtri Productions, 1997. ISBN 1577170601
- [Epoch times]
- [Met Museum]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.