Luo Ping

Luo Ping as an old fisherman (unknown artist, dated 1780)

Detail from the ghost amusement

Luo Ping ( Chinese  羅 聘  /  罗 聘 , Pinyin Luó Pìng ; * 1733 ; † 1799 ) was a Chinese painter of the Qing dynasty who lived in Gan Quan ( 甘泉 , today Yangzhou ). His age- old name was “Hidden Lord” ( 遯 夫 , Dùnfu ) and his pseudonyms “Two peaks” ( 兩 峰 , Liǎng Fēng ) and “Monk of the Flower Temple” ( 花 之 寺僧 , Huā zhi Sì Sēng ). Luo Ping learned to paint under Jin Nong . He painted portraits, Buddhist motifs, flowers and landscapes and was the youngest of the so-called eight eccentrics from Yangzhou who developed a freer painting technique. His most famous work is a 25-meter-long scroll called Ghost Amusement.

life and work

Luo Ping, whose talent as a poet was recognized early on and gave him access to the upper artistic circles of his hometown, lost his parents at the age of one. At the age of 19 he married the poet and painter Fang Wanyi ( 方婉儀 , 1732–1779), with whom he had a daughter and two sons who also became artists. All painted plum blossoms, the family symbol. Five years after his marriage, he met Jin Nong, who became his teacher and mentor. In the second half of his life, Luo often visited Beijing , where his work caused a stir. As a devoted Buddhist, Luo Ping also frequently painted unusual depictions of Buddha .

In the monumental role Ghost Amusement, completed at the end of the 1760s , Luo Ping portrayed ghosts, goblins and ghosts, which often have human features. Luo, who claimed to have seen such beings himself, always carried the role with him and had comments made on it by numerous personalities of his time. The anatomically correct skeletons shown are likely to go back to the anatomist Andreas Vesalius , whose work De Humani Corporis Fabrica was published in a Chinese edition in 1630.

literature

• Kim Karlsson (Ed.): Luo Ping: Visions of an Eccentric (1733-99). Museum Rietberg, Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-907077-41-2

Web links

Commons : Luo Ping  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• The ghost painter (3landinfo)
• The one with the jade green look (NZZ)

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Luo is the family name here, Ping is the first name.