Huang Gongwang

Huang Gongwang (1269–1354), born Lu Jian at Changshu, was the oldest of the Four Masters of Yuan literati painting. Only ten when the Song fell to the Mongols, he found his path to office severely restricted.

He served as a low-ranking Censorate clerk until jailed over a minister's case, and after his release became a Quanzhen Taoist hermit in the Fuchun Mountains near Hangzhou.

There, from 1347 to 1350, he painted his great handscroll Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains. Rejecting the landscape conventions of the academy of his day, he built up scenes with dry brushstrokes and light ink washes, creating influential models for later painters.