The Three Laughing Men by Tiger Brook

The painting’s inscription retells the famous Tiger Brook story: “During the Jin dynasty, Tao Yuanming was an accomplished scholar of Confucianism. Lu Xiujing was prominent among the recluses who studied the Daoist way. Great Master [Huiyuan] was a teacher of the Buddhist doctrine who could speak on dreadful or prohibited matters; he lived on Mount Lu. When he sent his guests off, he would show them the way to Tiger Brook [but would never cross it]. One day Tao and Lu called on Huiyuan. Their conversation was so congenial that Huiyuan crossed Tiger Brook unintentionally. When they realized it, they all laughed loudly. [This story] has been passed down as the ‘Three Laughing Friends.’ Qieyuan, Gao Qipei, with inked fingernails.”

An eccentric artist, Gao Qipei combined the conventional use of brush with his hands and fingers—he used fingertips or hand to make broad washes of ink and color, and a fingernail split like a goose quill to draw scratchy outlines. Here, the artist presents a close view of the three legendary figures on the rock in front of the gushing waterfall. Flanked by Tao and Lu, Huiyuan stands in the middle and looks towards the cliff after crossing a bridge. Tao’s long hair, covered with a winged hat, identifies him as a mountain man in seclusion.