Woodcutter in Winter Mountains

In this misty landscape a woodcutter hikes up a path to a pavilion in the mountains. Little is known about the painter, except that he was from Xianning, Hubei province, earned his jinshi degree in 1454, and was a scholar at the National University. On another painting, Yang refers to himself as “The Romantic Drunkard of West Lake,” indicating that he lived for some time in Hangzhou.Yang Xun’s strong, wet brushwork and diagonal composition, as well as his use of mist as a transition between foreground and background, are indebted to Zhe School style of painting. He combined the conservative approach of those professional painters with a scholar-amateur’s interest in adding his own expressive and innovative touches, seen in the washes and loose applications of ink to render foliage.