Introduction

Hua Yan's "Album of Sketches from Life" is a fascinating masterpiece of Qing dynasty painting entrusted to the National Palace Museum from the Lanqian Shanguan collection. It is actually mounted as two separate albums, each containing twelve leaves. As for Hua Yan's biography, he originally went by the name Desong, later changing it to Yan, and had the style name Qiuyue. He was born into a family of commoner status in Shanghang, Fujian, in 1682 during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor. Since Shanghang was once known as Xinluo, Hua Yan took the self-styled sobriquet Xinluo Shanren ("Mountain Man of Xinluo") to reflect his memories of home despite elsewhere living for many years.

When he was a youth, Hua Yan's family could not afford to continue providing him with an education, so he left home at 22 for Hangzhou to seek his fortunes. Evidently coming to the attention of local scholar-officials, Hua Yan was influenced by them and devoted himself to poetry, painting, and calligraphy, eventually becoming an all-around artist with considerable literary talent. Over the following decades, he traveled frequently between the cities of Hangzhou and Yangzhou, relying on his skills with the brush and ink to make a living. Hua Yan worked ceaselessly in the arts, even up to his death in Hangzhou in 1756 during the Qianlong reign. His literary works were collected into and survived as Anthology of Leaving the Impure. In painting Hua Yan first was influenced by the styles of such artists as Yun Shouping (1633-1690), Zhu Da (ca. 1626-1705), Shitao (1642-1707), and Chen Hongshou (1598-1652), afterwards forging a new style of his own to successfully create a personal manner. Hua Yan's mentor, Xu Fengji (1655-1740), once praised him as "combining refinement and substance, he also was able to extend beyond the norms." Hua Yan has also been considered part of the Yangzhou School movement, admired for his striving at innovations in painting.

"Album of Sketches from Life" is undated, but judging from a combination of evidence, such as painting technique, style of calligraphy, and use of seals, it is most likely Hua Yan's late work from after the age of sixty. The album leaves present a wide range of figural, bird, insect, animal, and aquatic subject matter. Interspersed and apparently unconnected, the forms depicted here nonetheless all appear quite humorous and animated with great expression. Truly encompassing and illustrating a spectrum of themes, the forms fully reveal the artist's own personal disposition, in contrast to a mere pursuit to capture the appearance of things. The two albums in their entirety are being specially presented in Gallery 208 in the National Palace Museum's main exhibition building, offering audiences a uniquely rich and dazzling aesthetic experience from the brush of Hua Yan.
 

Selections

This painting depicts a red-robed herder riding on the back of an elephant lumbering along. By his side is a long harrow to scratch the elephant's back. He holds in his hand a slender rope to pull a camel along. The elephant and camel seem to gaze at each other, apparently sharing a look of leisure and secret joy.

At the age of 34 Hua Yan made a trip to China's northern expanses. Thereafter, images of camels, elephants, tigers, and horses began to appear in his works. Examples include "Accumulated Snow at Tianshan" and "Stopping the Horse at Guanshan," which originate with scenes he witnessed on his trip to the north. Both also focus on a red-robed traveler, one riding a camel and the other a horse, making their way in a snowy landscape that successfully recreates the desolate imagery of northern lands. Here, "Elephant and Camel" does away with the background to isolate the emotional interaction between the figures and animals. Compared to the two aforementioned works, this painting appears much more engaging.

Ghostly Amusements

This album leaf, done only in monochrome ink, depicts a total of nine ghosts and goblins of various sizes. The background features moist applications of light ink to create a gloomy atmosphere.

A painter active a bit later than Hua Yan, Luo Ping (1733-1799), once painted an eight-leaf album also entitled "Ghostly Amusements." Alluding to a cautionary satire of contemporary affairs, it was received with considerable attention by art circles in the capital. No evidence has been uncovered so far as to whether Hua Yan's painting of ghosts was done with a similar motivation in mind. Nonetheless, Hua also often did paintings on the subject of Zhong Kui and ghosts, such as the National Palace Museum's "Zhong Kui on the Double Fifth," which shows a drunken Zhong Kui being tricked by accompanying goblins. Yuan Mei (1716-1797) in his inscription on Luo Ping's "Ghostly Amusements" wrote that, "Ghosts should be painted as ugly, otherwise they would not frighten people." In Hua Yan's depiction, the ghosts here, though not attractive, seem to have a more harmonious quality.

Wasp and Tiger

This painting depicts an old tiger on a grassy slope lifting its paw as if to scratch an itch, having been stung by the thread-waisted wasp resting on the branch above. Maybe that is why the tiger seems to have an expression of pain and despair.

The tigers often seen in Chinese painting generally have a majestic and mighty presence in the wild. The word for "bee" (including hornets and wasps) in Chinese is also a homonym for "ennoblement," so the portrayal of a tiger and wasp in Chinese painting originally symbolized "to advance in rank and position" and therefore a person of great ambition and aspiration. This work, however, departs from the norm and depicts an old tiger on a plain having humbly left the mountains and humiliated by a wasp. Not only is there a sense of humor and sarcasm in this artistic rendering, but perhaps also the artist's own thwarted aspirations.

Wasp's Nest

This album leaf depicts on an autumn day the fragrance of blooming cassia, from the branch of which is suspended a wasp's nest. There are more than twenty thread-waisted wasps emerging from the nest perhaps looking for a meal. The painting method employs outlines filled with colors as well as the "boneless" technique of washes. With sketch-like brushwork, it not only accurately grasps the animated world of insects, but also transforms a rather mundane subject into one of pure untrammeledness.
 

Frogs Fighting

This painting depicts the corner of a pond where two larger frogs with mouths agape appear as if in a fight. Below the abdomen of the ochre one is a young frog, perhaps being protected by its mother. Another young frog of the same color is scurrying towards them, as if to join in the battle. And by the side of the green frog is another small frog in an uproar, looking to cheer on the larger frog. Despite being a static painting, a tense and raucous atmosphere appears to emanate from the scene. The coloring of the frogs is light and simple but still appealing, while the lines are fluid yet accurately grasp the forms and details of the subjects. Such pure and intimate works from Nature as this will always transcend time and place to find appreciation among audiences.
 

Turtle

This leaf shows a turtle from underneath with its legs sprawling in an extremely interesting manner. At first glance the turtle appears to have flipped on its back, the legs struggling to get back on its feet. Careful examination, however, reveals that the turtle appears quite leisurely and not the least bit perturbed, as if swimming carefree in the water. The artist, though, has left the background blank, allowing viewers to use their imagination. In the lower left corner is a personal seal of Hua Yan that reads, "With a Laugh!" which particularly echoes the humorous quality of this painting.

Further Reading
Liu Fangju, "Wenzhi xiangjian yasu gongshang: Hua Yan ji qi xiesheng ce (Appealing to Refined and Popular Tastes: Hua Yan and His "Album of Sketches from Life") (in Chinese), in Hua Yan xiesheng ce (Hua Yan's "Album of Sketches from Life") (Taipei: National Palace Museum, 2012).

Text and images are provided by National Palace Museum