Liang kai biography of christopher

Liang Kai (Chinese: 梁楷; pinyin: Liáng Kǎi; c.

Liang kai biography of christopher

1140 - c. 1210)^[1] was a Chinese painter of the Southern Song Dynasty. He was also known as Madman Liang because of his very informal pictures. He was born in Shandong and worked in Lin An (later Hangzhou).^[2] He is known to have studied with the master Jia Shigu.^[3] He was awarded the rank of Painter-in-Attendance at the court of Jia Tai (1201-1204 CE, Southern Song Dynasty) where he was known for mastery in painting figures, landscapes, and other minor subjects.^[2] He was also awarded the Golden Belt, however he left it behind when he left his position at court to practise Chan Buddhism.^[4]

Painting style

Liang Kai is most famous for originating or developing the "Xie Yi" (sometimes translated as "sketch style") of painting, where the objective is to evoke the subject or atmosphere with minimal use of detail; it requires a profound mastery of paintin