Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Wei Xian
Southern Tang court painter from Chang'an, skilled in ruled architecture and figures, known for The Lofty Recluse
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 Wei the Palace Attendant
Wei Xian came from Chang'an and served the last Southern Tang ruler, Li Yu, as a palace attendant painter. According to Guo Ruoxu's Tuhua jianwen zhi and the Xuanhe Catalogue of Paintings, he painted towers, palaces and figures and excelled at ruled-line architecture, first following Yin Jizhao and later the brushwork of Wu Daozi. His surviving handscroll The Lofty Recluse shows the Han hermit Liang Hong and his wife Meng Guang, who raised his food tray to her brow in respect, set among mountain woods and buildings; originally a hanging scroll, it was remounted as a handscroll in the Northern Song and carries a title by Emperor Huizong. It is in the Palace Museum, Beijing.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active under Li Yu of Southern Tang (961–975)