年轻时，扬无咎所居住的地方有一棵“大如数间屋”的老梅树，苍皮藓斑，繁花如簇。他经常去对着梅树临画写生，大得梅花真趣。因此，在梅花画法上，有着自己独特的感悟，形成了自己的画法。正当年轻，雄心勃勃的他也曾将自己的梅花图进献于宫廷，却不得宫廷的赏识，被当时的徽宗皇帝斥为“村梅”。 来自宫廷的嘲讽，却并没有影响扬无咎对自己艺术风格的坚持。从此，他干脆在自己的画上题以“奉敕村梅”，既是一种自嘲，也是一种自傲。他继续按照自己的审美理想，钻研墨梅艺术。

扬无咎非常善于学习前人的艺术成就。北宋时，有一位以画墨梅著名的画僧叫仲仁，他居住在衡州(今湖南衡阳)华光寺。由于酷爱梅花，仲仁在寺院中种植了许多梅树，每当梅花开放，便“移床其下，吟咏终日”。正当月夜，见窗纸上花影横斜，非常可爱，就取出笔墨勾画其形状，别具风致，这就是华光一派墨梅画法的由来。后来，华光寺的僧人来到清江慧力寺，也将华光的墨梅画法带到了这里，扬无咎经常前往交流，仲仁的画法给了扬无咎极大的启发，“补之所作后益超出，格韵尤高”。在这难得的艺术切磋中，扬无咎结合自己的艺术经验，将前人的墨梅艺术提升到了一个新的高度，因此徐沁在《明画录》中说：“……华光一派，流传至南宋扬补之，始极其致。，’

除了善于师法前人、师法造化，扬无咎墨梅艺术成就的取得，也是于他全面的艺术修养分不开的。

他是一位诗、书、画兼长的全能艺术家。书法方面，扬无咎宗法唐代书法大家欧阳询(率更)，他曾在自己所藏的《邕禅师塔铭》帖上题字：“予于率更为人室上足”。据说，当时江西的碑碣多为扬无咎所书，足见其书法成就之高。他的小字书法尤其清劲可爱。他还长于诗词，诗词格调很高，无绮罗脂粉气。著有《逃禅词》1卷，《洞天清禄集》中说他的“诗笔清新，无一点俗气”。

如此全面的艺术修养是难能可贵的，刘克庄曾说：

艺之至者不两能，善画者不必妙词翰，有词翰者类不工画，……扬补之，其墨梅擅天下，身后寸纸千金，所制梅词柳梢青十阙，不减花间、香奁，及小晏、秦郎得意之作，词画既妙，而行书姿媚精绝……

虽然由于画名的彰显，扬无咎在书法和诗词上的成就往往不为人知，但全面的艺术修养，却大大滋养了他的墨梅艺术。

画境与诗词意境相通，扬无咎墨梅以清逸见长，高洁清幽，不沾尘俗，这正是其诗词境界的另一种展现；而书法艺术对于扬无咎墨梅艺术的影响就更显见。《洞天清禄集》中说：“临江扬无咎补之，学欧阳率更楷书殆逼真，以其笔画劲利，故以之作梅，下笔便胜花光仲仁。”可见，扬无咎将书法中的用笔结合融人墨梅创作中，大大拓展了笔墨的艺术表现力。

绍兴年间，朝廷曾多次要扬无咎做官，但他因不满当时的政治，坚辞不就。他一生生活于民间，不求闻达，但画名却不胫而走。虽然善画，但他并不以作画求名逐利。他喜欢饮酒，醉后往往不管什么场合都能挥毫、泼墨。而如果没有兴致，想求得扬无咎一幅画，却很难。据说，扬无咎曾乘兴在临江的一家倡馆的墙壁上画了一幅折枝梅，吸引了不少往来的文人士大夫，倡馆一时生意兴隆，但这块画了折枝梅的屋壁后来居然被人窃走，使这家倡馆顿时车马稀少，门庭冷落。扬无咎艺术的魅力于此也可见一斑。

扬无咎最著名的传世花卉作品是《四梅花图》(又叫《四清图》)，这是他晚年的作品，画分四段，可分可合，每段自成一幅，有独立的内容和章法，从自跋中可知作者创作此图的初衷是要完成一位挚友的命题：“要余画梅四枝，一未开，一欲开，一盛开，一将残，均各赋词一首。”

这个独特的命题激发了画家的兴致，使画家在创作中表现出应有的大家手笔。画梅花“未开”，在疏枝斜干上突出描绘了花苞的聚五攒三，以少胜多；画梅花“欲开”，在枝干上布了些整朵梅花，花瓣清晰可数而不露其花蕊，以求含蕴；画梅花“盛开”，则极写其雨浴脂浓，烟笼玉暖之致；画梅花“将残”，则堕溷飘零，偃蹇自嗟。即使留在枝上的残梅，也是蕊托外露，已无一瓣可寻!四段梅花图，将梅花的盛衰过程表现得淋漓尽致，不经过仔细的揣摩观察，是无法具备如此准确传神的表现力的。

《四梅花图》，花用线勾，不设色；枝干不用双勾，以运墨中的自然枯、湿变化，表现老干新枝的差异。在构图上，四幅图都以疏朗自然取胜，瘦枝冷蕊，清气逼人，写出梅花真魂。而每幅枝干的穿插取势不同，枝梢的趋向也不同，显示出画家娴熟的艺术技巧和高妙的构图能力 《四梅花图》的可贵之处还在于它集中展现了艺术家的诗、书、画三绝，画幅上四首寄调《柳梢青》的词作，既表达了画家对梅花品格的感受，又扣紧画意；扬无咎以他广受称道的清劲小楷，录下这自谱的四首梅花词，还题上一段作画缘起的自述。这种在画作上留下大段题画文字的做法，在宋代以前的绘画中，是十分罕见的，无疑是一种章法和观念上的创新。

扬无咎的墨梅在我国绘画史上产生过很大影响，历代仿效他的人很多。南宋花鸟画家赵孟坚，扬无咎的从子季衡、外甥汤正仲、汤叔用等都是他的传徒。后代的花鸟名家王冕、徐禹功等都是他的嫡系。

 《四梅花图》卷，宋，扬无咎作，纸本，水墨，纵37.2 cm，横358.8 cm。

　　扬无咎的墨梅，祖述北宋华光和尚（释仲仁）。据吴元素《松斋梅谱》记载：“墨梅自华光始”，他长期居住湖南衡州花光寺，“植梅数本，每发花时，辄床于其树下终日，人莫能知其意。值月夜见疏影横窗，疏淡可爱，遂以笔戏摹其状，视之殊有月夜之思，由是得其三昧，名播于世。”扬无咎得华光画法而自有变法和发展，改墨晕花瓣为墨笔圈线，“变黑为白”，更能表现梅花淡色疏香、清气逼人的特性。此卷作于画家69岁，是应友人范端伯之请而画，一共四段，分别为：未开、欲开、盛开、将残，描绘梅花从含苞到初绽、怒放、最后凋零的全过程。枝干皴擦用飞白法，花朵兼以双勾和没骨结合，用笔圆润。全卷纯用水墨，不施任何色彩，但注意了浓、淡、干、湿、焦的变化，画面给人以斑斓之感。据说无咎年青时所居之处“有梅树大如数间屋，苍皮斑藓，繁花如簇”，他常常临写摹画，因得其趣，最能表现梅树的形神，所以他的画既工致逼真又富文人豪放的写意情趣。卷后有自书《柳梢青》咏梅词四首，书法笔势劲利，得欧阳询真髓，词风婉约清丽，将梅花自开至谢的过程比作美人从少女到迟暮的一生，暗寓一种隐情，引发观者无限的情思和感怀。

　　此卷曾经《铁网珊瑚》、《清河书画舫》、《珊瑚网书画跋》、《过云楼书画记》、《式古堂书画汇考》、《大观录》等著录。嘉庆初年为陆谨庭所得，专门筑“四梅花阁”以庋藏之。后流落于外邦，被程桢义用“番钱三百枚”购回，当时传为艺林盛事。又有元吴镇，明沈周、文徵明、项元汴等人收藏印记，前后多达三百余方，是扬无咎一件流传有绪的名迹。

 Yang Wugui (1097 - 1171), the word complement, the name of the old man fleeing Zen, also known as the elder of Qingyi, the descendant of Han Yangxiong, who claimed to be descendants of Cao Xuan (Yangxiong), so his surname from "Xie" does not follow "Mu". Han nationality, Qingjiang (now Jiangxi) people, Southern Song poets, painters and calligraphers. In the fourth year of Shaosheng, Zhezhong of the Northern Song Dynasty (1097 AD), he was born in Qingjiang (now Zhangshu in Jiangxi Province) and later settled in Yuzhang (now Nanchang). His poems, books and paintings have a long history. The art of plum painting has a far-reaching influence in the history of painting. At that time, it was also well known. There is a saying that "one plum can be supplemented, and its price is not less than 100,000 pieces".

It's good to be blameless, self-restrained, honest, not admiring Rongli and not looking up. He is not a painter specializing in flowers and birds. According to Deng Chun's Picture Continuation, his main achievements lie in ink and wash figure painting. He learned from Li Gonglin, a great painter of the Northern Song Dynasty. After a long time, Mei Zhu Songshi is just his literati game brush and ink, but Mo Mei has become the symbolic theme of his painting art. It is probably because the character of plum flower "Ao Gu Ling Frost" that inspires artists. The resonance on the lattice.

"Four Plum Blossom Pictures" Volume, Song Dynasty, Yang Wugui, Paper, Ink, 37.2 cm in length and 358.8 cm in breadth.

The blameless Momei is the ancestor of Huaguang monk in the Northern Song Dynasty (Shi Zhongren). According to Wu element's Song Zhai Mei Pu, it is recorded that "Momei started from Huaguang", he has lived in Huaguang Temple in Hengzhou, Hunan for a long time. "There are several books of plum planting. Every time a flower blossoms, people can't know it when they are in bed under the tree all day long. On the moonlit night, when you see the sparse cross window, it is sparse and lovely, so you can imitate its shape with your pen. You can see the difference between the moonlit night and the moonlit night. Changing Huaguang's painting method to ink halo petals to ink circle line and turning black to white can better show the light color, fragrance and refreshing air of plum blossoms. This volume was painted at the request of his friend Fan Duanbo at the age of 69. It consists of four sections: unopened, ready to open, blooming and dying. It depicts the whole process of plum blossom from budding to blooming, blooming and finally withering. Branches and trunks are rubbed with flying white method. Flowers are combined with double hooks and boneless, and are rounded with pens. The whole volume of pure ink, without any color, but pay attention to the thick, light, dry, wet, focus changes, the picture gives a beautiful feeling. It is said that when he was young, he lived in a place where plum trees were as big as houses, mosses with pale skin and flowers were clustered. He often copied and painted pictures. Because of his interest, he could best express the shape and spirit of plum trees, so his paintings were both lifelike and full of literati's bold and unconstrained freehand brushwork. There are four plum chanting poems in Liu Shao Qing after the volume. They are vigorous in calligraphy. They get the essence of Ouyang's inquiry. They are graceful and elegant. They compare the process of plum blossom blossom blossoming to thanking to a beautiful woman's life from a young girl to a late evening, which implies a hidden feeling and evokes infinite feelings and feelings of the viewer.

This volume has been recorded in Tiewang Coral, Qinghe Calligraphy and Painting Boat, Coral Net Calligraphy and Painting Postscript, Guoyunlou Calligraphy and Painting Record, Classical Ancient Hall Calligraphy and Painting Collection, and Daguanlu. In the early years of Jiaqing, Lu Jingting built the "Four Plum Blossom Pavilion" to hide it. Later, he fled to foreign countries and was bought back by Cheng Zhenyi with 300 pieces of money. At that time, it was passed down as an art forest event. There are also Yuanwu Town, Ming, Shen, Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Xiang Yuanbian and other people to collect imprints, up to 300 square, is a well-known place to spread.