The Jung-hsi Studio
Ni Tsan (A.D. 1301-1374)
Yuan Dynasty
Ink on paper. Hanging scroll. 
74.7 x 35.5cm.
     Ni Tsan was a native 
of Wu-hsi, Kiansu.  His 
style  name  was  Yuan-chen
and his sobriquet Yun-lin. 
One of the Four Masters of 
the Yuan dynasty, Ni was 
noted for his landscapes, 
bamboos and rocks.
      Executed when the artist
was  72  years  old,   the 
colophon states that this
painting  was first given to 
Ni's  friend Pei-hsuan, who 
kept it for three years and 
then gave it to his physician
friend Chung-jen asking the 
artist to inscribe  a poem. 
Jung-hsi  was  the  name  of 
Chung-jen's residence.
      The brushwork in the
painting is especially bland 
and  refined,  with   tonal 
variations in the trees most 
carefully built up.  An upright 
brush with point-centered 
energy has been employed 
more often than a slanted 
brush; and broken hemp-
fibre  strokes  are  more 
frequent than washes in the 
modeling of the rocks.