Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Hua Yan
Fujian-born painter who began in a paper workshop, settled in Hangzhou, sold his work in Yangzhou and painted figures, landscapes, birds and flowers
A desk holds an unrolled sheet bearing three bold black ink strokes, with a rack of many brushes above it, a stone ink slab and ink stick, a porcelain bowl, a red lacquer box, a dish of red seal paste and a paperweight; a small seated figure shows through a round window onto bamboo.
Also known as Zi Qiuyue · Hao Xinluo Shanren
Hua Yan, courtesy name Qiuyue and known as the Hermit of Xinluo, came from Baisha in Shanghang, Fujian. Born poor, he was apprenticed in a paper workshop but drew from childhood; when the local gentry objected to murals he painted for the clan shrine, he left home and eventually settled in Hangzhou, where he studied poetry among scholars. He painted figures, landscapes, birds, flowers and insects, first in the manner of Yun Shouping and later drawing on Zhu Da and Shitao. Under Yongzheng and Qianlong he moved between Hangzhou and Yangzhou, living by his brush and keeping company with Jin Nong and Zheng Xie. He died in Hangzhou in 1756, leaving a collection of poems, the Ligou ji. The Draft History of Qing (Qingshi gao) names him as the painter of the Qianlong era who best carried on Yun Shouping's bird-and-flower style.
Life and times
Dates 1682 CE–1756 CE