Fan Kuan painted the Northern Song landscape masterpiece Travelers Among Mountains and Streams.
The monumental hanging-scroll landscape is dated to the early 11th century and is one of the defining works of Northern Song painting. Fan Kuan used towering mountains, sharply textured rocks, and tiny human figures to present nature as vast and morally significant.
The painting is in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Its attribution is based partly on a small signature hidden among foliage, a characteristic that helped identify the artist after centuries of uncertainty.
Fan Kuan is often discussed with fellow Northern Song painters Guo Xi and Li Cheng. Their landscapes share monumental scale, but Fan Kuan is especially associated with bold mountain masses and close observation of nature.