Artists › Painters and Calligraphers

Ma Lin

Southern Song court painter and son of Ma Yuan, attendant at the painting academy from the Jiatai era, known for Listening to the Wind in the Pines

Also known as Ma Lin of the Southern Song

Ma Lin came from a family originally of Hezhong in Shanxi that settled in Hangzhou after the court moved south, and he was the son of the court painter Ma Yuan. The Precious Mirror of Painting says he became an attendant at the painting academy in the Jiatai era under Emperor Ningzong and carried on the family manner in figures, landscapes and flowers; many of his pictures bear inscriptions by Ningzong, Empress Yang or Emperor Lizong. His surviving works include Listening to the Wind in the Pines (National Palace Museum, Taipei), Layers of Icy Silk (Palace Museum, Beijing), Sunset Landscape (Nezu Museum, Tokyo) and the album leaf Night Outing with Candles.

Life and times

  1. UnknownBornSongYuanactive under the Southern Song emperors Ningzong and Lizong
  2. UnknownDied

Works

  1. Treasures · Brushwork5
    1. Seated Portrait of FuxiSouthern Song, reign of Lizong, from about 1230Fuxi with the eight trigrams at his feet
    2. Ma Lin, Listening to the Wind in the PinesSouthern Song dynastyA recluse listening to the wind in the pines
    3. Ma Lin, Lighting a Candle for a Night OutingSouthern Song dynastyCandles lit to keep the flowers awake
    4. Ma Lin, Fragrant Plum Blossoms (Album, leaf 3)Southern Song dynastySparse shadows and a hidden fragrance
    5. Ma Lin, Spring Rain Clearing (Album, leaf 14)Southern Song dynastySpring freshness after rain

Family tree

  1. Direct kin
    Ma Yuan
    Father
    Ma Lin