Ch'iu Ying (Chinese Painter)

From a humble background, born to a peasant family, Ch’iu Ying (1494-1552) is said to have started as a lacquer artisan. He later excelled at painting landscapes and figures. In his early years, he studied under Chou Chin (ca. 1460-1535), but later he met T’an Yin and Wen Cheng-ming of Soochow. He also turned to the essence of T'ang and Sung masters to create a style of his own. During his career, he was invited by famous collectors to paint at their residences, where Ch'iu had the opportunity to copy the works in their collections and learn more about ancient styles. With his fine and beautiful style, Ch'iu Ying was known as one of the Four Masters of the Ming. His fine-style figure paintings follow the T'ang and Sung models in a beautifully delicate. Even during his lifetime, Ch'iu Ying was praised and his influence spread to literati, folk, and court painting of the Ming and Ch'ing, serving as testimony to his reputation as a painter of unsurpassed skill.
Specializing in the gongbi brush technique, he painted in ink washes and used the green-and-blue style. He painted with the support of wealthy patrons, creating images of flowers, gardens, religious subjects, and landscapes in the fashions of the Ming Dynasty.