Q IS FOR QIU YING

     Qiu Ying was born in 1494 into a peasant family in what is now Jiangsu Province in China.  He studied painting in Suzhou under the master Zhou Chen.  Qiu became known for his highly detailed figure and architectural paintings, as well as his studies of flowers.  He exhibited an unusually wide range of subjects and styles in his paintings, and was recognized for his ability to copy the styles of other masters.  But mostly he used the gongbi technique, featuring precise and highly detailed brush strokes.  According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Qiu "did not pursue the other characteristic arts and activities of the man of letters that Chinese critics believed were marks of a great painter, but he earned critics' respect for the dexterity, representational skill, and refinement of feeling evident in his paintings." 
     Feast your eyes:

 

 



     Through his talent and versatility, Qiu acquired several wealthy patrons, including well-known art collectors, and eventually came to be considered as one of the Four Masters of the Ming Dynasty.  His daughter, Qiu Zhu, and son-in-law, You Qiu, became painters as well; his daughter's style has been described as "delicate and beautifully refined," much like her father's.  Qiu Ying died in 1552.