In The Young Aristocrat (Lot 2580), one of the very few nude portraits by Qiu Yacai, the sparse, deliberate brushstrokes and unvarnished soft colours convey a sense of elegance and sensuality, yet tinged with a remote sense of solitude, in the reclining figure. Qiu's exploration of the human psyche is fully rendered in this natural and clean presentation of this classical subject, which melds together the essence in form and spirit valued in Chinese literati painting.