Biography

Li Tang was born ca. 1050, a native of Heyang. Already in his early years he earned his living by painting. Sometime after 1100, under Emperor Huizong, he earned the highest rank in the Painting Academy at the court in Bianjing (now Kaifeng).

He survived the invasion by the Jurchen Jin dynasty in 1126–27, and, together with the court, moved to Qiantang (now Hangzhou), which became the capital city of the newly established Southern Song Dynasty. He continued to serve as painter in the court under Emperor Gaozong, and died circa 1130.

Character of his art

Li was among the most influential of the early Southern Song landscape artists and had many followers. He represented a vital link between the Northern Song school (Guo Xi, Fan Kuan, Li Cheng, and others), and the later Southern Song painters, such as Xia Gui and Ma Yuan, both of whom studied Li's art. He developed and perfected the technique of the so-called "ax-cut" brushstrokes, which gave rocks and mountains a particularly fine quality.

"Wind in Pines Among a Myriad Valleys"

As with most Song artists, few of Li Tang's paintings survive, and most are of questionable authorship. The large hanging scroll Wind in Pines Among a Myriad Valleys (also known as Whispering Pines in the Mountains; National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan) is the only painting that bears a clear signature by the artist, which is placed on one of the peaks in the top section. It reads: "Painted by Li Tang of Ho-yang in Spring of the chia-ch'en year of the Hsüan-ho Reign of the Great Song Dynasty." The texture of the rocks in this painting is a standard example of the "ax-cut" strokes technique.

Other attributed works

Other works commonly attributed to Li Tang are Intimate Scenery of River and Mountains, a long landscape scroll, and Sitting on Rocks Gazing at the Mist, both in the possession of the National Palace Museum.

生平

李唐原供奉北宋徽宗的畫院，1127年金兵攻陷汴京，李唐顛沛流離，逃往臨安（今杭州），以賣畫度日。南宋恢復畫院後，李唐經人舉薦，進入畫院，授成忠郎職務。

李唐精于山水畫，變荊浩、范寬之法，山水畫最初用峭勁的筆墨，寫出北方山河雄峻氣勢；晚年去繁就簡，創大斧劈皴；畫水打破魚鱗紋程式，而得盤渦動蕩之狀；兼工人物畫，初似李公麟，後衣褶變為方折勁硬；並以畫牛著稱。

描繪青綠山水，如《萬壑松風圖》、《長夏江寺圖》等，是北派山水的著名代表人之一，其後用筆及取景變的簡括凝鍊、構圖精練、意境優美，開闢南宋的新畫風，並創作人物畫《胡笳十八拍》、《採薇圖》等，借歷史抒發懷念故國，希圖中興的感情。

李唐的畫風對後世有很大影響，他也培養了一些傑出弟子如蕭照，其後馬遠、夏圭繼承和發展了他的畫風，和他一起，並稱為「南宋四家」（李唐、劉松年、馬遠、夏圭）。