Xiao Sun was from Huaining in Anhui province. He travelled throughout China and eventually settled in Beijing, where he held a succession of teaching posts. He was also an active member of Chen Hengke’s Society for the Study of Chinese Painting in the 1920s.
Here the artist inscribes: 'I once saw a painting of snow by Gengyan sanren [aka Wang Hui (1632-1717)] in the style of Youcheng [aka Wang Wei (AD 701-761)]; it is neat and tidy, but too rigid. It is not as good as the works of Shi Tao [c.1642-1707], which are rough and untidy, but appear more interesting. That is [a level that] I cannot reach; this painting only achieves a similar appearance’. He adds: ‘I have made four paintings with titles starting with the numbers “ten”, “hundred”, “thousand” and “ten thousand”, and I believe they deserve to be treasured’.
Vainker, Shelagh, Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2000), no. 145 on p. 170, illus. p. 171 fig. 145
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