Ma Yuan

His works has inspired both Chinese artists of the Zhe school, as well as the early Japanese painters Shūbun and Sesshū.

The recorded working language is Chinese. The field of work recorded is painting, shan shui and bird-and-flower painting. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are landscape. Li Tang is recorded as an influence. Works named in the authority record are Walking on a Mountain Path in Spring. Work by Ma Yuan is recorded in the collections of Cleveland Museum of Art, National Palace Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Princeton Art Museum and The Palace Museum.

• Name — Ma Yuan • Born — c. 1160 • Birthplace — Qiantang (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang) • Died — 1225 • Known for — Painting • Movement — Southern Song dynasty, Ma-Xia movement • Notable Works — Dancing and singing Walking on a mountain path in spring Ma

• Illustration — Dancing and Singing (Peasants Returning from Work) Ma Yuan was born in Qiantang (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang) into a family of painters. His great-grandfather Ma Fen served as painter in attendance at the Northern Song court in early 12th century, and both his grandfather Ma Xingzu and his father Ma Shirong held the same position at the Southern Song court in Hangzhou. At some point after 1189, Ma Yuan received the same position under Emperor Guangzong. He evidently enjoyed a high reputation at the court and was a favorite of Emperor Ningzong (who wrote several poems inspired by Ma Yuan's paintings); but nothing more is known about his life. He died in 1225. His son, Ma Lin, who rose to the rank of painter-in-waiting, was the last painter in the family.

• Illustration — Snowscape • Illustration — Immortal Riding a Dragon. Southern Song dynasty, early 13th century. Hanging scroll; ink and light colors on silk. Although a very versatile painter, Ma is known today primarily for his landscape scrolls. His technique, like that of many contemporaries, was at first inspired by Li Tang. Eventually Ma developed a personal style, with marked decorative elements ("pine trees [...] strong as if they were made of iron wire", as described in a contemporary source). A characteristic feature of many paintings is the so-called "one-corner" composition, in which the actual subjects of the painting are pushed to a corner or a side, leaving the other part of the painting more or less empty. Aside from landscapes, Ma's surviving oeuvre includes many different types of works. These include a number of delicate flower paintings (National Palace Museum, Taipei), a series of paintings of water and mountains (Palace Museum, Beijing), some paintings of Zen masters (two kept in Tenryū-ji, Kyoto), etc. Many album leaves survive that can attributed to Ma Yuan, but his authorship is disputed for all but a few of them, since Ma's popularity in his day led to numerous painters imitating his style. Walking on a Mountain Path in Spring (National Palace Museum) is among the album leaves with secure attribution, as are two leaves in the collection of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and one in Mr. and Mrs. Dean Perry Collection, Cleveland, Ohio. A group of hand scrolls survives as well, including one of the most important works, The Four Sages of Shangshan, in the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum in Ohio. In the history of science and technology in China, Ma Yuan is remembered as being the first to depict a fishing reel in artwork (i.e. in his painting Angler on a Wintry Lake).

Ma Yuan worked in painting, shan shui, bird-and-flower painting and figure painting. He belonged to Four Masters of the Southern Song dynasty.