Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Lin Liang
Ming court painter from Nanhai in Guangdong who served in the Renzhi Hall and painted hawks and birds in free ink
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 Yishan
Lin Liang, courtesy name Yishan, came from Nanhai, present-day Guangzhou. Recommended by the Guangdong administration commissioner Chen Jin in the Chenghua reign, he entered the palace to serve in the Renzhi Hall and rose from an assistant in the Ministry of Works' construction office to a judge in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He painted birds and flowers in loose ink, hawks, wild geese, pheasants and peacocks above all, and with Lu Ji he stands for Ming court bird painting. The National Palace Museum in Taipei holds his hanging scroll Hawk in Autumn, and the Palace Museum in Beijing his long handscroll Birds Gathering in Shrubs.
Life and times
Dates Dates uncertain (c. 1436–1487 by one account); active Chenghua to early Hongzhi