Guo Xi - Song Dynasty

       Guo Xi (郭熙, ca.1020–1090) is a Chinese landscape painter from Henan Province who lived during the Northern Song Dynasty. Being a court professional, he developed an incredibly detailed system of idiomatic brushstrokes which became important for later painters. His most famous work is Early Spring, dated 1072. The work demonstrates his innovative techniques for producing multiple perspectives which he called "the angle of totality." The following is an excerpt from his treatise, "mountains and waters":

       The clouds and the vapors of real landscapes are not the same at the four seasons. In spring they are light and diffused, in summer rich and dense, in autumn scattered and thin, and in winter dark and solitary. When such effects can be seen in pictures, the clouds and vapors have an air of life. The mist around the mountains is not the same at the four seasons. The mountains in spring are light and seductive as if smiling; the mountains in summer have a blue-green color which seems to be spread over them; the mountains in autumn are bright and tidy as if freshly painted; the mountains in winter are sad and tranquil as if sleeping.

Artworks by Guo Xi (view the entire painting gallery)