HUANG KUNG-WANG

born 1269, Ch'ang-shu, Kiangsu province, China died 1354 Pinyin Huang Gongwang oldest of the group of Chinese painters later known as the Four Masters of the Yan dynasty (12061368). He was often cited meritoriously by later painters and critics for his rectitude (even though he briefly served in a junior capacity in the Mongol administration) and for his intense association with nature. Huang Kung-wang spent most of his later years in retirement in the Fu-ch'un Mountains, which he recorded in a long handscroll produced over a three-year period (134750), now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan. He is known also for his accomplishments in literary arts and thus is listed among the paragons of the literati painting (wen-jen-hua) ideal. His style of and attitude toward painting stand at a pivotal midpoint between such ancient masters as Ch-jan in the Five Dynasties period and Shen Chou, Tung Ch'i-ch'ang, the Four Wangs, and others of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties.