20世紀60年代李可染始作《苦吟圖》，目的為自勵。1966年文化大革命開始以後，李可染被剝奪了作畫的權利，作為“反動權威”被關進了美院的“牛棚”，他的《苦吟圖》等作品均受到批判。80年代，畫家重新以該題材作畫，並引用唐人賈島詩，拓展了畫的意境。李可染曾宣稱：“我不依靠什麽天才，我是困而知之，我是壹個苦學派。”因此在題跋中稱“余性愚鈍，不識機巧，生平最崇先賢苦學精神，因作此圖自勉。”李可染的藝術之路多有磨難，但他始終保持苦行的精神，此作寫於1985年，時畫家已經78歲高齡，他仍然以此作提醒自己在藝術上要謹慎和苦修。此作布局平穩，壹人壹桌壹燭臺，呈三角形構圖。畫家以清靈的墨暈、遊刃有余的筆致與淡雅的敷色等手段極為精彩地寫出了壹個在深夜冥思苦想的詩人的神情形貌，介於“似與不似”之間，代表了李可染寫意人物畫的典型風格。此作筆法簡率灑利，設色自然沈著，造型生動有趣，乃李可染晚年人物畫佳構。

        這幅畫是畫家自稱“苦學派”的自勵圖，更是他提倡苦學苦練的精神性圖式。畫面布局疏密得當，簡單明了卻氣息流暢，人物面部著色自然沈著，且邊線滲色自然得宜，用筆頓挫尤見力度，自然不做作，更顯所表現人物的苦思冥想之狀態。題跋中四句古詩，巧妙地與畫面意境結合，實為難得。

        In the 1960s, Li Keran began his work as a bitter picture, with the aim of self-motivation. After the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in 1966, Li Keran was deprived of the right to paint. As a "reactionary authority", he was imprisoned in the "bull shed" of the Academy of Fine Arts. His works such as "Bitter Map" were criticized. In the 1980s, the painter re-painted the subject and quoted the Tang Dynasty Jiadao poetry to expand the artistic conception of the painting. Li Keran once declared: "I don't rely on any genius. I am sleepy and knowing. I am a bitter school." Therefore, in the title, "the dullness is dull, the ingenuity is not known, and the life is the most admired." Hey." Li Keran's art road has many hardships, but he always maintains the spirit of asceticism. This work was written in 1985. When the painter was 78 years old, he still used this as a reminder that he should be cautious and painstaking in art. The layout is smooth, one person, one table, one candlestick, and a triangular composition. The painter wrote a vivid appearance of a poet who pondered in the middle of the night with the faintness of Qingling, the brushwork and the elegant coloring. It is between “likeness and dissimilarity” and represents Li Keran’s freehand brushwork. The typical style of figure painting. This method is simple and elegant, and the color is natural and calm, and the shape is vivid and interesting. It is the composition of Li Kezhen's figure paintings in his later years.

        This painting is a self-motivation of the painter's self-proclaimed "bitter school", and it is also a spiritual pattern that he advocates hard work and hard work. The screen layout is well-organized, simple and clear, but the atmosphere is smooth, the face coloring is naturally calm, and the edge oozing is naturally appropriate. It is particularly difficult to use the pen to frustrate, naturally not artificial, and the state of thinking and meditation of the characters. The four ancient poems in the title are subtly combined with the artistic conception of the picture, which is rare.