How was an album leaf used in Southern Song painting?

In the Southern Song period, the album leaf was a favored format for academy painters, including masters like Xia Gui. These works were typically square or nearly square, though some featured a round or oblate shape, indicating they were originally mounted on flat fans.1

Artists used these leaves to create intimate, highly focused compositions that often followed a simple yet effective scheme, such as a diagonal division of the space. In these works, the void played a role as significant as the solid masses, allowing for a balanced, precise depiction of nature—often capturing a scene glimpsed through haze. Because most of Xia Gui’s surviving works are album leaves, they serve as primary examples of his ability to convey atmospheric depth and lyrical landscapes within a compact, portable format.1