This calm and elegant landscape painting has a clear composition. There is a rock formation in the lower-left corner covered by a rich growth of old trees growing in different directions. A terrace extends to the right with a pavilion in the middle, a river flowing sluggishly above and below. The middle of the painting is dotted with trees, while mountains stretch into the distance behind layers of clouds and mist. The entire work is clean and tasteful with a warm and sincere style, just like its painter.

The painter Ma Shou-hua was born in 1893 and always had a fondness for painting. His calligraphy, a semi-cursive script characterized as gentle and elegant, is mainly in the style of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, and he also studied Yan Zhenqing and Mi Fu. As for painting, Ma extensively researched the painters of the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. He excelled at painting landscapes and flowers, and in particular painting bamboo in ink. Notably, he was even better at using his fingers to paint as opposed to a brush—this landscape painting is one of his representative finger-painted works.

When using fingers to paint, the result is normally coarse and lacks the character of the ink. Ma, however, managed to use his fingers to bring out a vitality that’s hard to achieve. Most remarkable is that he could imitate the old masters without being tied down by old ways. He immersed himself in the old but came out with something new to establish his own style.

Ma Shou-hua came to Taiwan in 1947, where he became a senior figure in the judicial world. He spent his free time painting, and in 1955, established the Seven Friends Painting Society with Zhang Gu nian, Gao Yihong, and four others. They participated in fine arts exhibitions in Taiwan multiple times, as well as international calligraphy and painting exhibitions.