{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"2022 Archive of RENATURED, Marina Zurkow's Research Blog","provider_url":"https:\/\/o-matic.com\/blog-archive-2022","author_name":"Marina","author_url":"https:\/\/o-matic.com\/blog-archive-2022\/blog\/author\/admin\/","title":"Luo Ping","html":"

There's an exhibit up at the Met of Luo Ping's works until January 10<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1731\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"300\" caption=\"Hanshan and Shide (detail)\"]\"Hanshan<\/a>[\/caption]\r\n

... a vivid description of him, his wife, his master + context:<\/p>\r\n\r\n

WIT AND NON-CONFORMIST, bohemian and connoisseur, devout Buddhist and self-proclaimed expert on the supernatural, the 18th-century Chinese painter, Luo Ping was all this and more. Luo was a native of Yangzhou, where the Grand Canal meets the Yangzi and the centre of a thriving salt trade. Destroyed in 1645, merchant patronage and increasing affluence during the nascent century of Manchu rule (1644-1911) turned it into a southern cultural metropolis, complete with scholarly and artistic pursuits. Home to more than a hundred renowned painters - according to Li Dou\u2019s Yangzhou huafang lu<\/em> (Record of the Flower Boats of Yangzhou, 1795), it was synonymous with the \u2018Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou\u2019, a loosely knit group of bold individualists. They subjected the traditional tenets of Chinese painting to much experiment, dwelling on the figurative genres of flowers, plants, rocks and portraiture. Labelled guai<\/em>, \u2018eccentric\u2019 for their unconventional ways, they paid homage to no particular school. Luo Ping was the youngest proponent of the \u2018Eight Eccentrics\u2019, and although a timely representative of his age, has remained somewhat eclipsed...\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1740\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"335\" caption=\"Plum Blossom\"]\"Plum[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn 18th-century Yangzhou, the plum blossom, Prunus mume,<\/em> was a living subject. The precursor to spring and sign of renewal, it evoked many associations and sentiments. Jin Nong introduced the classical plum blossom in all its complexities to his pupil. During a six-week stay with the Luo family, he painted the monochromatic Plum Blossoms<\/em> (1757), inspiring their devotion to the tree, which eventually earned them the accolade, the \u2018Luo Family Plum School\u2019. Another partner in Luo Ping\u2019s work was his wife, Fang Wanyi (1732-1779), whom he had married at nineteen, in a \u2018modern\u2019 union of like-minded souls. One 10-leaf album, Figures, Flowers and Plants<\/em> is a unique collaboration by Jin, Luo and Fang; the master painted the first five leaves, the next two are by the couple and the last three feature Luo\u2019s finger painting techniques. In Leaf 3<\/em> (1760), Fang Wanyi\u2019s orchids, symbol of moral integrity and female refinement are paired with Luo\u2019s plum blossoms.\r\n

\u2013 Asian Art<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

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  • \"Ghost<\/a><\/li>\r\n\t
  • Ghost Amusement Scroll (detail)<\/li>\r\n<\/dl><\/div>","type":"rich"}