Gnarled pine over a churning river, with two birds in flight and another perched on a rock in the water

Leaf from an Album after Song Dynasty Paintings

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What you see

A pine with a thick, twisted trunk rises on the left and stretches its branches across the top edge. Below, a rocky slope cuts diagonally to the right, and water swirls through the lower part. Two long-tailed birds fly above the slope, another perches on a rock midstream and one more clings to the trunk.

The palette is browns and ochres, set off by the near-black green of the pine needles, drawn in tight fans. The waves are fine, curling lines. Look for the upper bird, which seems to carry something in its beak, and the large square red seal on the right.

About Qiu Ying

Qiu Ying was born around 1494 into a peasant family in Taicang and began in Suzhou as an artisan decorating lacquerware before becoming a professional painter. His meticulous, elegant brushwork and his gift for copying Song and Yuan paintings won him the favour of wealthy collectors such as Xiang Yuanbian. He is counted today among the Four Masters of the Ming dynasty, and his daughter Qiu Zhu also became a painter.

All 12 works by Qiu Ying