Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Gao Xiang
Yangzhou painter of landscapes and plum blossoms who never took office, a seal carver and friend of Jin Nong and Wang Shishen, counted among the Eight Eccentrics
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 Fenggang · Hao Xitang
Gao Xiang, courtesy name Fenggang and known as Xitang, came from Ganquan county in Yangzhou prefecture and never held office, spending his life in the city painting and writing poetry. He painted landscapes and flowers, especially plum blossoms, in a spare and delicate ink, and many of his small landscapes show the gardens and outskirts of Yangzhou. He also wrote clerical script and carved seals, and he was close to Jin Nong and Wang Shishen, who were living in Yangzhou at the same time, often carving seals and inscribing paintings for his friends. He died in 1753 at sixty-six. One common list of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou places him alongside Jin Nong, Wang Shishen, Huang Shen, Li Shan, Zheng Xie, Li Fangying and Luo Pin.
Life and times
Dates 1688 CE–1753 CE