Liu Cai
Meister lebendiger Fischbilder
Liu Cai(刘寀) (11th century), courtesy name Hongdao(宏道) (also written as Daoyuan(道源) or Hongdao(弘道)), was from Kaifeng of the Northern Song Dynasty (now part of Henan), with unknown birth and death years. He once served as a county official, was appointed as a court attendant, and had a wild and unrestrained personality. He often devoted himself to poetry and wine, and socialized with the sons of nobility. He excelled in poetry and lyrics, and was especially adept at painting fish. Liu Cai's paintings center on fish, depicting fish competing for food and playing with algae. The "Illustrated Treasure Mirror" praised his work as "though it may be like wind or duckweed, water or water plants, it is still a lively sight." The Xuanhe Painting Manual records 30 of his works, including 'Playing with Algae and Fish' and 'School of Mackerel Playing with Water Chestnuts,' praising his fish paintings as 'deeply capturing the meaning of playing with broad water and floating depths, forgetting the rivers and lakes.' His surviving works include 'Falling Flowers and Swimming Fish' from the St. Louis Museum of Art in the United States, 'Playing with Algae and Fish' in the National Palace Museum, and 'School of Fish Playing with Water Shield' in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. These works use the rendering technique to depict fish scales and water ripples, with the paintings not depicting water ripples but suggesting water flow through the movement of aquatic plants.