Sui (581-618) &Tang (618 - 907) Dynasties
Subject matter in painting expanded during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Figure painting at this time flourished and reached one of its peaks in Chinese painting history. Landscape painting also matured quickly during the Tang Dynasty – forms were carefully drawn and rich colors applied, leading to the appellation “gold and blue-green landscapes.” The technique of applying washes of monochrome ink developed shortly after, providing a style of painting that captured images in abbreviated, suggestive forms and sharply contrasted with the rich, courtly beauty of the colored landscapes. These two styles of landscape painting would later lead to the theories of the Northern and Southern schools.
Two Horses and a Groom (Han Gan)
White Night Horse (Han Gan)
Fighting
Bulls (Dai Sung)
During
the late Tang and Five Dynasties (906-960 AD) periods, bird, flower, and animal
painting also developed to an unprecedented level of excellence. Two major
schools formed in bird and flower painting: the rich, opulent style and the
untrammeled mode of the natural wilderness.
Snow
on Mountain Tops (Dong Yuan)
Eight
Noblemen on A Spring Excursion (Zhao Yen)
Night
Party (Gu Hong-Zhong)
Evening
Color on Autumn Mountains (Guan Tung)
Archer
and Horse (Lee Zan-Hua)
Evening View over Stream and Mountains (Dong Yuan)