The Eccentric Painters of Yangzhou
“扬州八怪”画家

Filled with wondrous gardens, canals, and pleasure boats, southern China’s Yangzhou in the eighteenth century was a city of culture and commerce where rich salt merchants imitated the scholarly gentry by becoming patrons of the arts. Conscious of their low standing according to Confucian teachings, wherein merchants ranked below farmers and laborers, the wealthy salt merchants applied their fortunes to attract the talent of artists without imperial patronage, offering the artists an alternative route to financial stability. The prosperity of this region nurtured many innovative artists, who were later known as the Eccentric Painters of Yangzhou. Financial backing by wealthy patrons gave artists the freedom to break rules. This exhibition presented thirty-two artworks by thirteen artists who came to Yangzhou from other regions of China after having failed the imperial examination.