A brief history of China's dragon paintings

Chen Rong's Cloud Dragon, collected by the Guangdong Museum. [Photo/Artron.net]

There are only a few of Chen Rong's paintings left now. His paintings Nine Dragons and Six Dragons were held by the Qing Dynasty palace and now his remaining works are collected worldwide.

Painting Cloud Dragon (or sometimes called Ink Dragon) collected by the Guangdong Museum is a typical masterpiece of Chen Rong. It depicts a flying dragon prancing high in the clouds, giving people a sense of shocking power. The painting is believed to represent the highest level of dragon paintings in the Southern Song Dynasty, and has remarkable position in art history.

Chen Rong's Nine Dragons is held by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the United States. It depicts nine dragons flying in mountains, clouds or torrents with different postures and full of imagination.

Chen Rong's Five Dragons is owned by the Tokyo National Museum and depicts five dragons in different poses.

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