Lin Xue


Lin Xue, also known by her courtesy name Lin Tiansu, was a Chinese poet, painter, and calligrapher during the Ming dynasty, noted for her landscape paintings.
Lin lived by the West Lake in Hangzhou, where she worked as a courtesan until her marriage into a respectable family.
Lin drew the attention of leading poets and painters of the time, including Li Liufang and Dong Qichang. She painted in the latter's Southern School style, and is described as having a fluid hand with a feminine sensibility. Her landscape album of 1621 contained copies of earlier masterworks, which were deemed exquisite by critics due to how closely they resembled the originals.

List of works

Landscape, ink on gold paper, 1620, private collectionLandscape after Huang Gongwang , ink on gold paper, ca. 1620, in the Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst, KölnGeese Descending on Sands, ink and color on silk, 1621, in the National [Museum of Asian Art], Smithsonian InstitutionPrunus and Bamboo, ink and slight color on paper, 1621, in the Art Institute of ChicagoLandscape, ink and colors on paper, 1622, private collectionLandscape, ink on gold paper, 1642, private collection