Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Yuan Jiang
Yangzhou painter of the early Qing known for ruled-line architecture and palace landscapes, paired with Yuan Yao as the Two Yuans
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 Wentao · Late hao Xiuquan
Yuan Jiang, courtesy name Wentao, came from Jiangdu, today's Yangzhou, and worked from the Kangxi reign into the early Qianlong years. He began by following Qiu Ying and then turned to Song models, specialising in landscapes with buildings drawn with a ruler, palaces and pavilions laid out with precision and bright colour, often on themes of immortal realms and celebrated historic palaces. He is said to have worked with Gao Qipei and to have served at court for a time under Yongzheng. The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds his Palace of Nine Perfections of 1691, and other works such as the Epang Palace survive. He and Yuan Yao are known together as the Two Yuans.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active from the Kangxi era into the early Qianlong era, with dated works from 1691 to the 1740s