Huang Gongwang

(b Changshu, Jiangsu Province, 1269; d Changshu, 1354). Chinese painter. He was designated one of the Four Masters of the Yuan, together with NI ZAN, WU ZHEN and WANG MENG. Born into a family named Lu, he was orphaned when very young. The impoverished Lu family had him adopted when he was seven or eight by a Mr Huang of Yongjia, Zhejiang Province, who was living in Changshu at the time. Since Huang was about 90 years old and without male offspring, the names Huang Gongwang and Zijiu were chosen, which together mean 'Mr Huang has desired a son for a long time'.

See the Abbreviations for further details.

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Huang.

Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, Huang Gongwang, c. 1350

Huáng Gōngwàng (黃公望) (1269-1354) was a painter from Jiangsu. He is the oldest of the "four great masters of the Yuan." After serving as an official he acted as a Taoist priest. He spent his last years in the Fu-ch'un mountains near Hangzhou devoting himself to Taoism.

In art he rejected the landscape conventions of his era's Academy, but is regarded as one of the great literati painters. He had two styles. One was dependent on the use of purple and the other preferred black ink. Like all other Chinese scholar-officials of his era he was also a poet. Lastly he had some talent for music.

References

• Masterpieces of Chinese Art (pages 87-90), by Rhonda and Jeffrey Cooper, Todtri Productions, 1997. ISBN 1-57717-060-1

External Links

• Huang Gongwang and his painting gallery at China Online Museum

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