Established in 1928, Hangzhou College of Arts was the pivotal art college in China that promotes and advocates in the Western painting techniques. Its earliest graduates, such as Zao Wou-Ki, Chu Teh-Chun, Shiy De-Jinn and many more, these artists were deeply influenced by Lin Fengmian's philosophy of "introducing Western arts, streamlining Chinese arts, balancing the Eastern and Western arts, and creating a new phase of Modern arts." As such, these artists' works fully evoked the innovation and fusion of the Eastern and Western artistic conceptions and techniques of the time. Shiy De-Jinn's ink and watercolour landscape embodied the creation of Lin Fengmiang and Li Keran, yet its painterly manner with strong affection truly characterizes his unique artistic style. In Blue Mountain (Lot 1165) and Red House at Foot of the Mountain (Lot 1164), painted respectively in 1972 and 1979, Shiy deliberately restricted the use of colour, and smeared in large washes of colours. This approach saturates the paper with the ink to produce the variations between heaviness and lightness, the wet and the dry, the withered and the moist. The perspective of the far and close is merged into one and instantly creates a sense of space. Red House at Foot of the Mountain is a rare vertical scroll piece by Shiy. The little red house submerged at the bottom is reminiscent of the characteristic compositions as those in Ma Yuan or Xia Gui's paintings, which displays a mirage of panoramic landscape. Shiy's works with simplified composition and washes of colours captures the essence of nature and expresses the poetic sensibility in Easter art.