Portrait: AI-generated imagined likeness

Li Sixun

Painter

Years: 651–716
Birthplace: China
Birth polity: Tang dynasty
Era: Medieval
Field: Art
Occupations: Painter

He was a court painter during the Tang Dynasty and is said to be the founder of blue-green landscapes. With his aristocratic colors and composition, he expanded the landscape expressions of East Asian painting. This will be your gateway to learning about the artistic side of Tang culture. The spread of court culture can also be seen.

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Historical context

Places

Chang'an
Work
Tang imperial court
Work

Works & achievements

blue-and-green landscape style
Painting

Events

development of Tang court painting
c. 680–c. 716
Cultural event · Participant

Origins

Origins map

Birth country

Birth country: China

Map: Natural Earth (PD)

Biography

Early life

Born into a family connected to the imperial family of the Tang Dynasty, he was exposed to the world of politics and culture at the imperial court. In the international cultural environment centered on Chang'an, paintings were also a means of demonstrating the education and authority of the nobility.

Achievements

He left his name behind with his vivid blue-green landscape paintings using mineral pigments, which later had a great influence on a line of Chinese landscape painting. In addition to photographing nature, he composed the landscape as an idealized court landscape.

Character & anecdotes

Lee Si-hun was remembered as a painter even though he held the status of a shogun and a general. It is different from literati paintings, and symbolizes the flow of a courtly and decorative landscape.

Historical Impact

When we study Li Sixun, we learn that Tang culture was deeply involved not only in poetry and Buddhism, but also in the formation of painting styles. The blue-green landscape was referenced by later generations and became an example of the combination of color, authority, and ideal landscape in East Asian art.