Ren Yi, courtesy name Bonian, was one of the "Four Great Masters of the Shanghai School." He was a versatile artist, proficient in figures, flowers and birds, and landscapes. His art originated from folk traditions, emphasising sketching from life and skilfully incorporating Western sketching and watercolour techniques.
In his early years, his figure paintings followed the style of Chen Hongshou, characterised by exaggerated forms. Later, he integrated life sketching and pencil drawing, resulting in a simplified, unrestrained style with an exceptional expressive ability to capture the spirit and likeness of his subjects.
His flower-and-bird paintings combined meticulous detail with freehand expression, creating a bright and warm effect that had a profound influence on later generations. Xu Beihong once praised him as "the foremost Chinese painter after Qiu Shizhou”.
任頤（1840-1895）
字伯年，是海派中的集大成者，「海派四傑」之一。他技法全面，人物、花鳥、山水無一不能。其畫發軔於民間，重視寫生，並巧妙融入西方速寫與水彩技法。其人物畫早年師從陳洪綬，形象誇張，後融入寫生與鉛筆速寫，變得簡逸奔放，傳神寫照能力極高；花鳥畫則兼工帶寫，明快溫馨，對後世影響深遠。徐悲鴻曾譽其為「仇十洲之後中國畫家第一人」。
