Biography
Yun Shouping was born to an impoverished family in Wujin, Jiangsu province. Although he excelled in his classes, his family could not afford for him to attend the civil service examinations. Yun Shouping devoted himself to art. As a child, he composed poetry on lotus blossoms.
Career
As an artist, poet, and calligrapher, Yun Shouping has been said to have mastered the three perfections. He is the founder of the Ch'ang-chou school of painting, and he is credited with reviving the popularity of flower paintings. The mogu bird-and-flower motif experienced a resurgence through Yun Shouping's works and school of art.
Yun Shouping was initially a landscape painter, but he was reportedly so impressed by the works of the artist Wang Hui that he abandoned his training in favor of flower, animal, and insect paintings. Yun Shouping has been mistakenly credited with influencing the works of Jiang Tingxi.
Yun was also recognized as a prominent calligrapher, in which he followed the style of Chu Suiliang.
Style
Yun imitated the 11th-century artist Xu Xi's mogu (or 'boneless') method, an approach that tried to express art without rigidly defined outlines and forms. This style became a hallmark of the Yun family's artistic style, and Yun's daughter Bing continued to develop the technique.
Yun's style was vibrant and expressive; he attempted to display the inner vitality and spirit of his subjects in painting. Yun sought inspiration from the past; his Flower and Fruit imitated the style of the masters of the Yuan dynasty. He used strong colors such as reds and purples, which had traditionally been considered gaudy and offensive by Chinese painters.
Works
File:Lotus Flower Breaking the Surface by Yun Shouping.jpg|alt=A painting of a red lotus flower with a green lily pad. Ink and color used on scroll. The lotus is the left third of the image, the lily pad is the bottom third, and the upper-right quadrant is calligraphy.|Lotus Flower Breaking the Surface (出水芙蓉图), Palace Museum, Beijing
File:Yun Shouping, Magnolias.jpg|alt=Painting of pink lily magnolias and white anise magnolias on scroll. The lily magnolias are small and left of center, and the thin branch is almost intertwined with the branch of the four white magnolias, of which three are in bloom, located center to the right of the scroll. Light blue is used to bring out the edges of the white flowers. One line of calligraphy in the bottom right of the painting|Magnolias
File:Yun Shouping, Peonies.jpg|alt=Painting of various flowers, including white, pink, and lavender peonies as well as blue-green leaves. Flowers are in the right two-thirds of the scroll, with calligraphy in the left third.|Peonies
File:Yun Shouping, Old Trees and Bamboo after Ni Zan.jpg|alt=Painting of trees and bamboo on vertical scroll with calligraphy in the two upper corners.|Old Trees and Bamboo
File:Sunset along Floral Embankment by Yun Shouping (Kyoto National Museum).jpg|alt=Painting of distant mountains and proximate trees on vertical scroll with calligraphy in the upper left corner.|Sunset along Floral Embankment (花隝夕阳图), Kyoto National Museum
File:Yun Shouping - Tree Peonies - 1972.16 - Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg|alt=Painting of white, pale pink, and lavender peonies on shrub on a vertical scroll. The tree has a brown trunk and deep green leaves, and the brightness of the flowers are contrasted against the background.|Tree Peonies, Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:Yun Shouping - Landscapes in the Manner of Song and Yuan Masters - 1981.285.12a–m - Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg|alt=Painting of trees and mountains on scroll. Minimalist line renditions of a few small homes in a gathering in the foreground. Gray mountain outlines in the background. Calligraphy in the top left|Landscapes in the Manner of Song and Yuan Masters, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Peonies by Yun Shouping