Huang Binhong (1865–1955) was originally called Zhi, zi Pucun, Yuxiang. He named himself Binhong in memory of Binhong Pavilion in his birthplace, the village of Tandu (formerly Huizhou) in Shexian County, Anhui Province. Huang was born into a family of scholars and painters. He studied the Classics, poetry, and literature and learnt to paint and carve seals. In spite of this preparation, Huang failed the county-level examinations, so he began to concentrate on epigraphy, calligraphy and painting. In 1895, he wrote to the reform leaders Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao expressing support for their ideas. He also befriended Tan Sitong, another leading reformer.During the War of Resistance against Japanese aggression, Huang lived in Beijing and devoted himself to writing and painting. He moved to Hangzhou in 1948 and became a professor at the Art Institute of Zhejiang, as well as Hangzhou National Art College. He worked at the National Academy of Art and directed the Chinese Painting Research Institute. During his lifetime, Huang wrote profusely. A Study of Ancient Painting is one of the dozens of his published works. Huang was a dedicated landscape painter. Through his fifties he sought to learn from the works of ancient masters and in the next decade he travelled widely throughout the country to admire and study the splendour of nature. It is widely believed that Huang’s unique style only crystallised in his seventies. His landscapes bear tribute to the landscapes of the Northern Song dynasty. In his later years, the artist’s paintings became darker and richer, with the use of dark inks and heavy brushstrokes. Works from this period are known as “dark Binhongs” as opposed to earlier works, “ white Binhongs.” Huang had exceptional skill in the manipulation of brush and ink as well as an understanding of positive and negative spaces that emphasised the abstract nature of brushwork and the internal beauty it created. In his lifetime the works of Huang Binhong were not appreciated and to some seemed abstract and high-brow. However, Huang was the first Chinese artist to make an overall study of brushwork, in theory as well as in practice.
