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Pines of Mount Huang is a landscape painting by Lin Fengmian. It is not in the form of hanging scroll, which is rear in Lin Fengmian's works. It was finished when he was in Hong Kong (1977-1991).

According to Lang Shaojun, an art critic, in the 1920's and the beginning of the 1930's, Lin Fengmian's composition was mainly in the forms of hanging scroll and horizontal scroll ,but rarely in the form of square or standard rectangular (golden section) In 1937, he began to paint on square paper, and insist in it for 50 years. The back ground of the change was that, in the form, he preferred water- ink and water-color to oil paintings, and in the themes, his works no longer reflect the social contradiction and the bitterness of life directly. Instead he began to focus on landscape, bird and flowers, and figures.

Lin Fengmian said that he was inspirited by Chinese paintings from Song Dynasty. The most popular and typical forms of Chinese traditional paintings are hanging scroll and hand scroll. Lan Shaojun thinks that Lin Fengmian is trying to form his unique character and to keep away from traditional principles and habits by choosing square form. He said hanging scroll and hand scroll are products of Chinese culture. They are affected by Chinese buildings and men of letters. And they stemmed from Chinese traditional view of nature. Hanging scroll shapes the soaring view, while horizontal scroll displays images in different places and ages. (From Lin Shaojun on Creating New Aesthetic Structure - Exploration of Lin Fengmian's Paintings in Lin Fengmian Collected Studies Two, Greenland International Books Co., Ltd, Taipei, July, 2000, P48)

Lang Shaojun discovered that in the 1980s, Lin Fengmian continued to use the structural principle of geometric shapes, sticking to his usual square way of composing pictures while starting to use more and more rectangles. His normally composed his pictures horizontally instead of vertically, but he did not follow the golden section rigidly. It is also noted in the catalogues published by Seibu Department Store of Tokyo in 1986 and 1990, that several pictures adopting the structural principle of rectangular composition almost became the focus of his two exhibitions in Japan, revealing the fact that the artist were actively engaged in the study of the spirit of classical Chinese paintings. Composted vertically, Pines of Mount Huang is a rarity among Lin's paintings. Xu Xiake(a renowned ancient Chinese traveler and writer)said "when one comes back from the five famous mounts of China, one doesn't care for other mountains; when one comes back from Mount Huang, one does not care for even the five famous mounts." In order to capture the essence of Mount Huang, the artist specially composed this picture vertically, with bold strokes and a touch of vigor. Pines of Mount Huang expressed a kind of mature and masculine beauty that characterize the art in Han and Tang dynasty, which is quit different from the gentle and tranquil beauty expressed in his portraits of ladies and still lives.

Pines of Mount Huang is not a depiction of real scenery, but rather a collage of impressions. The cracked high cliffs became the bleary shadows of mountains in the background. The white margin, with its proper size, enhanced the effect. The focus of the picture, golden autumn groove, was so lively, as if it is right before the viewer. White walls and black roofs half hidden by the trees revealed the artist affection for his hometown. The high-rising pine tree represented the righteousness of the artist. In his later year s , he at tached himsel f t o landscapes. The lines, structures and colors of his works are showing his love and feelings. There is no unnecessary ornamentation. People will feel happy and pleased with themselves through his plain but vivid paintings.

Although he lived in an urban jungle, Lin Fengmian's paintings show no trace of modern people or objects. This is a hermit spirit typically exhibited by painters since the Shanghai Period. Lin's paintings reflect the state of his mind, as if he had been observing the life in reality from another world. Min Xiwen, Lin's student, believes that Lin continued his relentless quest even when he was in Hong Kong by t rying out new combinat ions of shapes in metamorphosis. Lin visited Hong Kong once in 1919. Sixty years later, Hong Kong he revisited was a completely different place. Huge changes of the environment should have given tremendous stimulus to Lin. He said, During this period, Lin produced a lot of works in the theme of Huang Shan. Perhaps he had related the dense high rises in Hong Kong to the continuous peaks and mountains in Huang Shan. In the afterglow, how can one not to be in awe of its magnificence? He also painted many rivers and streams. It was perhaps that he missed the hills in Sichuan and the Kaling River. It seems that the object matters that a painter wants to paint are never something he comes up with in an instance. They are always something he has been familiar with and having feelings for over a long time, or even something that has taken root in his mind. (Excerpt from Min Xiwen's Lin Fengmian, Fighter of Art, Studies on Lin Fengmian(3), Greenland International Books Co., Ltd., Taipei, July 2000, Page 152).

Lang Shao-chun comments on the use of warm colors, such as red and yellow, in Lin's paintings during this period. He said, Since 1980s, Lin had strengthened the contrasts and segregations of colors at the overall level, which gives his works a more open and passionate personality. Among all the stimulating colors, he had the tendency of using red. The Huang Shan he depicted based on his memories and impressions are sometimes a symphony of tangerine red and orange yellow expressed with painting brushes, glorious, magnificent and high in spirit. It can be said that it is not longer scenery of Huang Shan, but a hymn of praise to life shining and burning. (Excerpt from Lang Shaochun Lin Fengmian, Fighter of Art, Studies on Lin Fengmian(3), Greenland International Books Co., Ltd., Taipei, July 2000, Page 56-57.) Indeed, Lin went through almost the whole 20th century. He brings to people a spiritual landscape that is rich, abundant and magical. As an artist, he was always pure and innocent. Despite the hardship and turbulence he experienced, he always pursued and realized his ideals alone. His paintings reveal a wonderful energy of life and a fighting spirit for life. No wonder that he is named a pioneer of modern art in China. He is a master of his generation.