易元吉作品

易元吉，中国北宋画家。字庆之。生卒年不详，活跃于仁宗、英宗时期。湖南长沙人。初工花鸟蜂蝶，后见到赵昌作品，认为难以超越，耻为第二，于是转工画猿猴。他常深入荆湖深山之中，观察、体会、揣摩猿猴獐鹿的生活习性，每遇胜丽佳处，辄留其意，心传目击，写于毫端。于长沙寓居后开凿池诏，间以乱石丛篁、梅菊葭苇并驯养水禽山兽，以观其动静游息之态，故所画动植物富有生趣。画上多自书“长沙助教易元吉画”，落款于树石间。北宋英宗治平元年(1064)景灵宫建孝严殿，召元吉入宫画花、石、禽兽等屏风，皆惟妙惟肖。后复召画《百猿图》，惜画未成而感染时疾，竟至暴卒(一说遭画院中人妒其能而鸩死)。《宣和画谱》著录御府所藏其作品有《牡丹鹁鸽图》、《梨花山鹧图》、《夏景戏猿图》等245件。传世作品有《猴猫图》卷，图录于《故宫名画三百种》；《蛛网攫猿图》册页现藏故宫博物院；《聚猿图》卷现藏日本大阪市立美术馆。 天资颖异，灵机深敏，尤善画猿猴，并因此而闻名天下。古代绘画评论家把獐猿画看成是易元吉的专工独诣，认为是“世俗之所不得窥其藩”的绝技。

初攻花鸟、草虫、果品，后专写獐猿。曾游荆、湖间(今湖南、湖北一带)搜奇访古范曾绘《易元吉戏猴图》，深入山区，入万守山百余里观察野生动物生活和林木岩石景物，每遇胜丽佳处，辄留其意，心传目击，写于毫端。宣和画谱》著录御府所藏其作品有《牡丹鹁鸽图》《梨花山鹧图》《夏景戏猿图》等245件。

易元吉的绘画才能是多方面的，除了擅长花鸟獐猿外，他还能画猫犬、虎狼、杂菜等各种动植物，且都能别开生面，超越前人。《树上二猿图轴》弗利尔美术馆藏

在画坛受到推崇的易元吉，在仕途上却很不得志。一次，潭州知州刘元瑜因欣《缚猴窃果图》弗利尔美术馆藏
赏易元吉的画艺，将他补为州学助教（从九品）。易元吉得到这个官职后很高兴，就在自己的画稿上署上工“长沙助教易元吉画”的题款。但没过多久，刘元瑜就因擅自补升画工易元吉为州学助教而降知随州。易元吉的仕途也随此而中止。

1064年（宋英宗治平元年），汴京景灵宫中的孝严殿建成，朝廷特召易元吉进宫绘画。他十分高兴地对朋友们说：“吾平生至艺，于是有所显发矣。”欣然赴京。在孝严殿内，易元吉奉命画御座后面的大屏风。他在中间一扇上，画了太湖石与汴京有名的鹁鸽和洛阳有名的牡丹，在旁边两扇各画上孔雀。接着，他又在神游殿的小屏风上画“牙獐”。别致的构图，精巧的画笔，使他名声大振。之后，易元吉又奉诏在开先殿西厢画《百猿图》，但还未画完就暴卒身亡了。曾有人说他的死是因为画院有人嫉妒他得到了皇帝的恩宠，特意在食物里下毒将他毒死的。易元吉的死，使许多人感到惋惜，刘挚作《易元吉画猿》诗：“传闻易生近已死，此笔遂绝天几存。安得千金买遗纸，真伪常与识者论。” 从这首诗中可见人们对易元吉的推崇，也可知当时他的画已非常珍贵，并且有人伪造了。

 Yi Yuanji (the year of birth and death is unknown, about the 11th century AD), the word Qingzhi, from Changsha, Hunan Province. A famous painter in the Northern Song Dynasty. Since childhood, he has been alert and sensitive, and has copied famous paintings of ancient people since childhood, thus laying a solid foundation for painting. He took nature as his teacher, traveled far away from home, lived in a wild family, and enjoyed natural scenery every day. After years of careful speculation, Yi Yuanji's skills improved day by day, and his paintings of flowers, birds, animals and plants were very distinctive. Yi Yuanji's paintings, especially the Swertia apes, are very vivid and vivid, which makes him famous all over the world. Yi Yuanji created a large number of paintings in his lifetime. In Xuanhe Painting Spectrum alone, 245 works of Yi Yuanji were recorded in the Imperial Palace at that time. There are more than 100 other documents. Unfortunately, his works have not survived much, only "Monkey and Cat Picture" and "Polyape Picture" and so on. One can also see the supernatural painting skills of this artist.

Yi Yuanji is a painter of the Northern Song Dynasty in China. The word Qingzhi. The year of birth and death is unknown, and it was active in the Renzong and Yingzong periods. People from Changsha, Hunan. After seeing Zhao Chang's works, he thought it was difficult to surpass them. He was ashamed of being the second, so he turned to painting apes and monkeys. He often went deep into the mountains of Jinghu Lake to observe, experience and figure out the life habits of the ape, monkey, deer and deer. After residing in Changsha, he excavated pools and edicts, among which he domesticated waterfowls, mountains and beasts with rubble clumps, plum chrysanthemum reeds and domesticated them to observe their motions and rests. Therefore, the animals and plants painted are interesting. Many of the paintings are self-written "Changsha Assistant Professor Yi Yuanji's Paintings", which are among the trees and rocks. In the first year of Yingzong's reign in the Northern Song Dynasty (1064), Jingling Palace built the Xiaoyan Palace, and called Yuanji into the palace to paint flowers, stones, animals and other screens. Later, he recalled the painting "Hundred Apes Picture". He regretted that the painting had not been finished and became infected with diseases, and even died suddenly (i.e., people in the painting academy were jealous of its ability to kill). Xuanhe Painting Spectrum records 245 works of the imperial palace, such as Peony Bird Pigeon Pigeon Pigeon Picture, Pear Flower Mountain Parrot Picture and Summer View Drama Ape Picture. The handed down works include Monkey and Cat Pictures, which are recorded in 300 Famous Paintings of the Palace Museum, Cobweb Pictures of Apes, which are now in the Palace Museum, and Juape Pictures, which are in Osaka Municipal Art Museum, Japan. With unique talent and keen wit, he is especially good at drawing apes and monkeys, and is famous all over the world. Ancient painting critics regarded the Swertia ape painting as Yi Yuanji's specialty, and regarded it as the "secular place can not peep at its fan" stunt.

Initially attacked flowers and birds, grass worms, fruits, and later devoted to Swertia chinensis. He visited Jing and Hujian (now in Hunan and Hubei) to search for ancient Fan Zeng's "Yi Yuan Ji Opera Monkey Picture" and went deep into the mountains to observe wildlife and forest and rock scenery for more than 100 miles in Wanshou Mountain. Every time he met a beautiful place, he paid attention to it and witnessed it from his heart. Xuanhe Painting Spectrum records 245 works of the imperial palace, including Peony Bird Pigeon Pigeon Pigeon Picture, Pear Flower Mountain Parrot Picture and Summer View Opera Ape Picture.

Yi Yuanji's painting abilities are various. Besides being good at flowers, birds, swertiers and apes, he can also paint cats, dogs, tigers, wolves, vegetables and other animals and plants, and can be different and surpass the predecessors. The Axis of Two Apes on the Tree

Yi Yuanji, who is highly praised in the art circle, is not ambitious in his official career. Once, Liu Yuanyu, Zhizhou, Tanzhou, collected by Flier Art Museum in Yinxin's Picture of Stolen Fruits from the Bonded Monkeys

Appreciate Yi Yuanji's painting skills and make him an assistant teacher of state studies (from nine grades). Yi Yuanji was very happy to get the post. He signed the title of "Changsha Assistant Professor Yi Yuanji Painting" on his drawings. But before long, Liu Yuanyu dropped to Suizhou because he was an unauthorized assistant painter, Yi Yuanji. Yi Yuanji's official career also ceased.

In 1064 (the first year of Song Yingzong's reign), the Xiaoyan Palace in Bianjing Jingling Palace was built, and the court summoned Yi Yuanji to paint in the palace. He was very happy to say to his friends, "I've been a great artist all my life, and I've shown something." Glad to go to Beijing. In the hall of filial piety, Yi Yuanji was ordered to paint a large screen behind the throne. In the middle, he painted Taihu Stone, Bianjing's famous Pigeon and Luoyang's famous peony, and peacocks in the next two. Then he painted "Swertia roxburghii" on the screen of Shenyou Hall. His unique composition and exquisite brush make him famous. Later, Yi Yuanji drew the picture of hundred apes in the Western Chamber of the First Hall under an edict, but died before he finished it. It has been said that his death was due to the jealousy of the emperor's favor and the poisoning of his food. The death of Yi Yuanji made many people feel sorry. Liu Zhi wrote the poem "Yi Yuanji Painting Apes": "It is rumored that Yi lives and dies, and this pen will last forever. It is common sense and intellectuals'theory that Ande spends a lot of money on lost paper. From this poem, we can see people's admiration for Yi Yuanji, and we can also know that his paintings were very precious at that time, and some people forged them.