This is the caption of image number 1Yang Wencong (1579-1649), Ming dynasty (1368-1644)
Dated 1642, hanging scroll, ink on paper, 131.8×51.2 cm

 

Yang Wencong was a painter in the Ming dynasty, a native of Guiyang. He stayed in Jinling (today's Nanjing of Jiangsu Province), away from his hometown. Serving in the Ministry of War, Yang Wencong was good at poetry and painting. As one of the "Nine Friends of Painting" (Huazhong jiuyou), he was expert in painting landscapes. The Collection of Xunmei Hall (Xunmeitang ji) is one of his monographs.
  This painting depicts the scene of living in seclusion in deep mountains. Dangerous peaks, steep cliffs, river banks thick with trees, a pavilion along the river, open lakes and some distant islets. A virtuous intellectual is sitting facing the river, looking thoughtful. This painting mainly used dry brush and light ink. The outlines of the mountains and rocks were sketched in a fresh and vigorous style. The principal part of the trees and rocks were painted by using texturing method, setting a delicate and remote tone for the whole painting. The poem on the upright echoes to the "L" shaped composition. The delicate calligraphy and the painting are neatly integrated. This painting's artistic conception is unearthly, and its style is beautiful and graceful. The artist signed "Painted at the Light and Free Pavilion of the Ou River in the mid-spring of the renwu Year, Yang Wencong", with two vermilion seals reading "Yang Wencong" and "Dragon Friend" (Longyou). Besides, there are four intaglio collectors' seals.