TheFour Masters of the Yuan dynasty (Chinese:元四家;pinyin:Yuán Sì Jiā) is a name used to collectively describe the fourChinese painters:Huang Gongwang,Wu Zhen,Ni Zan, andWang Meng, who were active during theYuan dynasty (1271–1368). They were revered during theMing dynasty and later periods as majorexponents of the tradition of “literati painting” (wenrenhua), which was concerned more with individual expression and learning than with outward representation and immediate visual appeal.[1]
Huang Gongwang and Wu Zhen belonged to the earlier generation of artists in the Yuan period and consciously emulated the work of ancient masters, especially the pioneering artists of theFive Dynasties period, such asDong Yuan andJuran, who rendered landscape in a broad, almostImpressionistic manner, with coarse brushstrokes and wet ink washes. While these painters were also respected by the two younger Yuan masters, the restrained thinness of Ni Zan and the almost embroidered richness of Wang Meng distinguished their work from that of their immediate predecessors.[1]
The work of the Four Masters spurred experimentation with novel brushstroke techniques, with a new attention to the vocabulary of brush manipulation.