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Guan Tong
Later Liang landscape painter from Chang'an, pupil of Jing Hao, whose massive northern mountains made the pair Jing-Guan
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 Variant writing Guan Tong
Guan Tong, also written with a variant character, came from Chang'an and was active under the Later Liang. The Xuanhe Painting Catalogue says he learned landscape from Jing Hao and in later years outdid his teacher, painting autumn mountains and wintry woods, villages and ferries, and recluses, in a towering, rugged style; weak at figures, he often had Hu Yi paint them in for him. Guo Ruoxu ranked him with Li Cheng and Fan Kuan as one of three great landscape traditions, and later critics paired him with Jing Hao as Jing-Guan. Travellers among Mountains and Streams at the Pass and Autumn Mountains at Dusk in the National Palace Museum, Taipei are traditionally attributed to him.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active around the Later Liang (907–923)