Zhao Mengfu - Yuan Dynasty

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       Zhao Mengfu (趙孟頫, 1254–1322) courtesy name Zi’ang (子昂), pseudonyms Songxue (松雪, "Pine Snow"), Oubo (鸥波, "Gull Waves"), and Shuijinggong Daoren (水精宫道人, "Master of the Crystal Palace"), was a prince and descendant of the Song Dynasty, and a Chinese scholar, painter and calligrapher during the Yuan Dynasty.

       Though occasionally condemned for having served in the foreign Mongol court (Yuan dynasty, 1271–1368), Zhao Mengfu has been honored as an early master within the tradition of the literati painters, who sought personal expression rather than the representation of nature.

       In calligraphy, Zhao Mengfu rejected the gentle brushwork of his era in favor of the cruder style of the Jin and Tang dynasties. His Regular Script is considered one of the top four in the Chinese history. The other three Regular Script masters are Yan Zhenqing (颜真卿), Liu Gongquan (柳公权) and Ouyang Xun (欧阳询).

       Zhao Mengfu's paintings were among the first after the collapse of the Song dynasty and its academy of painting to show an interest derived from subjects and styles of ancient masters. Zhao is popularly remembered as a painter of horses in the manner of the Tang dynasty (618–907) master Han Gan, but he also painted other animal groups, landscapes, and bamboos. Referring to the antique, he generally avoided superficial beauty by utilizing deliberately simplified color and compositions and a schematic, even childlike, rendering of forms and scale. His works often display a great variety of brushwork. Zhao’s wife, Guan Daosheng, and his son, Zhao Yong (born 1289), were both painters of note.

 

Masterpieces by Zhao Mengfu (view the entire calligraphy gallery)