Night-Shining White

A white horse stands tethered, its powerful body rendered in expressive ink strokes that capture both physical mass and inner spirit. Han Gan, court painter to Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty, was celebrated as the greatest horse painter in Chinese history. The emperor kept a stable of over 40,000 horses, and Han Gan studied them from life, developing a style that emphasized fleshy, muscular forms over the leaner horses of earlier traditions. This handscroll, one of his most celebrated surviving works, became a touchstone for horse painting in China for centuries.