Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Kuncan
Late Ming–early Qing monk-painter from Wuling in Hunan, paired with Shitao as the 'Two Stones' and one of the Four Monks.
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 Shixi · Hao Baitu, Can Daoren · Zi Jieqiu
Kuncan, born Liu and styled Shixi, came from Wuling (Changde) in Huguang. Drawn to monastic life from youth, he took the tonsure around the fall of the Ming and later lived in Nanjing at Niushou Mountain and the Bao'en Temple. His landscapes, rooted in Wang Meng and Huang Gongwang, use dry, layered brushwork to dense and sombre effect; he is paired with Shitao as the 'Two Stones' and counted with Bada Shanren and Hongren among the Four Monks of the early Qing. Fewer than a hundred works survive. The 'Shixi' landscape in Zheng Xie's inscription is his.
Life and times
Dates 1612–c. 1673 CE (death also given as 1692)