FIGURE 1: Fan Kaun: Travelers Among Mountains and Streams, China Online Museum - Chinese Art Galleries: Home. Accessed April 23, 2018. http://www.comuseum.com/painting/masters/fan-kuan/travelers-among-mountains-and-streams/.

Fan Kuan is arguably one of the greatest Chinese painters[1]. Some among his famous paintings include Travelers Among Mountains and Streams[2]. This set him as one of the greatest and most distinguished artists of his time. His style of art which is depicted in his most famous work represents the different aspects of a great artistic style. The style is separate from all others as it is set on landscape and is reflective. This paper is going to discuss how the artist style is depicted in his work and how his style compares with that of his contemporaries.  At the same time, how I am influenced by his style of painting.

Travellers Among the Mountains and Streams is a landscape painting[3]. It depicts the different aspects of nature, the harmony between the mountain and the streams which flow in it. The painting is done by the use of brush, the brush is rugged on the steep parts of the mountain which shows how the mountain is. The mountain is also painted in earthy colors and it shows a dark and silent mood characteristic of the mountains in the evening. The painting shows different travellers, based in the backdrop of nature, among the travellers is a stream which is flowing to its end[4]. The stream is a picture of a perfect harmony and symbolizes the Confucious school of philosophy that all things are part of nature as well as life being a continuous flow[5]. Thus the deep message embedded in the painting shows a deep spirit of Fan in combining the philosophical aspects with the natural infusions. Still on the same painting is a mule which is travelling perhaps depicting the human toils and the objects which man uses to achieve his purposes. The objects are not only animals but they are beings too which are travelling in nature and are serving their specific functions and after accomplishing their destination they shall be integrated in nature[6]. The painting also shows the interdependent aspect of all life forms in the world. That for one life form the other must be there. There is mutual benefit when all elements in nature are interdependent.