Spring Rains Watering Mountains in Sichuan, Li Keran

A reformer of mountain-and-water painting, Li Keran (1907-1989) introduced the effects of side light and back light from oil painting, and gave Chinese painting an unprecedented sense of space and layers.

Towering mountains with white walls and black tiles work well to divide the layout, and ease the pressure normally caused by overwhelming mountains. Instead of leaving a lot of white space, the painter used ink and red colors to enclose the white, and the contrast adds a touch of liveliness. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]