Four Masters of Anhui

Four Masters of Anhui, group of Chinese artists who were born and worked in Anhui province in the 17th century (Qing dynasty) and who, being somewhat remote from the traditional centres of Chinese painting, developed rather unusual styles. The “four masters” are generally identified as the little-known artists Sun Yi and Wang Zhirui, and the famous artists Hongren and Zha Shibiao. Two other well-known artists of Anhui province—Xiao Yuncong and Mei Qing—are often substituted for the former two artists. The landscape paintings of the masters of Anhui province often depict the somewhat peculiar landscape features of the province—especially Huang Shan (“Yellow Mountain”). Their style is commonly quite spare and even brittle, revealing a certain similarity to the reticent style of the 14th-century painter Ni Zan, one of a group of painters known as the Four Masters of the Yuan dynasty.