Shitao and His Discourses on the Art of Painting

Shitao is one of the most famous individualist painters of the early Qing years. The art he created was revolutionary in its transgressions of the rigidly codified techniques and styles that dictated what was considered beautiful. Imitation was valued over innovation, and although Shitao was clearly influenced by his predecessors (namely Ni Zan and Li Yong), his art breaks with theirs in several new and fascinating ways.

This work is dedicated to the Chinese Aesthetic Treatise Conversations about the Paintings by Bitter Gourd Monk", created by Shitao, the greatest painter and art theorist of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.