Figure Studies of Five Women and One Man

Gu Jianlong, who served as court painter in the Qing dynasty, learned the landscape styles from the old masters, as had his contemporaries. Some sketches recorded the method, brushwork idioms and rock formations of early masters. Gu was also skillful in portrait and figure painting, which can be seen in his studies of various postures of figures. Painters' sketches such as these were passed down only from individual to individual, making the printed painting manuals a welcome source of instruction for those without access to a tutor or paintings by the old master.