Top 10 Famous Painters in Ancient China

There are some very famous paintings in Chinese history that have been handed down, and some people’s paintings have been plundered overseas by Western countries. Ancient Chinese painters were very good at creating landscapes, animals, and life scenes. This post brings you 10 famous ancient Chinese painters.Since ancient times in China, calligraphy and painting are one family. People who are successful in calligraphy are also very good at painting.
See Also: Top 10 Famous Poets in Ancient China

1. Ju Lian 居廉

Ju Lian (September 22, 1828 – May 5, 1904) was a native of Geshan Township, Panyu County, Guangdong Province (now Haizhu District, Guangzhou City). Ju Lian is a famous Chinese painter in the Lingnan area in modern China. It is also called “Second Residence” with its elder brother. He learned from Song Guangbao and Meng Litang at first, and then absorbed the strengths of each family and became a family of his own. The brushwork is neat and the colors are beautiful. On the basis of inheriting and developing Yun Shouping’s boneless painting method, he has widely used the method of hitting water and hitting powder, inheriting, developing and improving the art of “ju school”.

2. Ju Chao 居巢

Ju Chao (1811-1889 (also said 1865), a Chinese painter in the Qing Dynasty. The word Meisheng, the name Meichao. The owner of Jinxi Nunnery. A native of Geshan Township, Panyu, Guangdong Province (now Haizhu District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province). He loved poetry, calligraphy and painting since childhood. Zhang Jingxiu served as a staff member of the inspector in Guangxi. He was influenced by Song Guangbao and others during his stay in Guangxi. He focused on sketching flowers and birds. After returning to Guangdong, he and his younger brother Ju Lian sketched the scenery from life. Most of his works wrote about vegetables, fruits and wildflowers, understated. It is the first of its kind. “The Collection of Chinese Calligraphers and Painters of the Past Dynasties” is especially assisted by Su Wen. Landscapes, flowers, birds and birds are all elegant and beautiful, and grass and insects are especially fine.

3. Gu Kaizhi 顾恺之

Gu Kaizhi (348-409), courtesy name Changkang and small character Hutou, was a native of Wuxi, Jinling, and was an outstanding painter, painting theorist and poet in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Gu Kaizhi is erudite and talented. He is good at poetry, calligraphy, and especially good at painting. He is known as the three masters: painting masters, literary masters, and crazy masters. Gu Kaizhi’s works include “Portrait of King Sima Xuan”, “Portrait of Xie An”, “Portrait of Liu Liao”, “Portrait of the Jin Emperor”, “The Beauties of the King of Guiyang”, etc. Among them, the paintings “The Proverbs of the History of Women”, “The Fu of Luoshen”, “Lie”. Women’s Benevolence and Wisdom” and “Chuqin” can be called treasures.

4. Tang Yin 唐寅

Tang Yin (March 6, 1470~January 7, 1524), courtesy name Bohu, later changed to Ziwei, no. A native of Wu County, a famous painter, calligrapher and poet in the Ming Dynasty. Tang Yin integrates the Northern and Southern painting schools, with fine brush and ink, sparse layout, and elegant and handsome style; the figure painter follows the tradition of the Tang Dynasty, with bright and elegant colors, graceful posture, and accurate modeling; The painting is better than the freehand brushwork of ink and wash, free and easy; the calligraphy is exquisite and handsome, and the method is Zhao Mengfu. In painting, Tang Yin and Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, and Qiu Ying are also called “Four Masters of Wumen”, also known as “Four Masters of Ming Dynasty”; in poetry, Tang Yin and Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing are also called “Four Talents of Wuzhong”. .

5. Mi Fu 米芾

Mi Fu (1051-1107), first name Fu, later changed to Fu, character Yuanzhang, self-signed name Mi or Qian, native of Xiangyang, Hubei, who was called Haiyue Wai Shi, also known as Vend Xiong descendants, Huo Zheng descendants. Northern Song calligrapher, painter, and calligraphy and painting theorist, together with Cai Xiang, Su Shi and Huang Tingjian, collectively known as the “Four Masters of Song Dynasty”. He used to be the school secretary, doctor of calligraphy and painting, and foreign minister of the Ministry of Rites. His ancestral home is Shanxi, but he moved to Xiangyang, Hubei, and later settled in Runzhou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu). Poetry and prose, good at calligraphy and painting, precise identification, calligraphy and painting are a family of their own, and he founded “Midian Shanshui”. Set painters, appraisers, collectors in one. His personality is weird and his behavior is crazy. Song Huizong Zhao was a doctor of calligraphy and painting, also known as “Mi Xiangyang” and “Minangong”.

6. Ni Zan 倪瓒

Ni Zan, originally named Jun, styled Taiyu, later named Yuanzhen, with the names of Yunlinzi, Jingmanmin, Huanxiazi, etc., was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu, and was a painter and poet in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties. Ni Zan is good at painting landscapes, ink and bamboo, and learns from Dong Yuan. Influenced by Zhao Mengfu, his painting style in his early years is clear and smooth, but in his later years, he is simple and innocent. His surviving works include “The Autumn Ji of the Fisherman’s Village”, “The Six Gentlemen”, “Rongxie Zhai”, etc., and he is the author of “The Collection of Qing Dynasty Pavilion”.

7. Li Gonglin 李公麟

Li Gonglin (1049-1106), a famous painter in the Northern Song Dynasty. When the word is Bo, the name is Longmian layman. Han nationality, Shuzhou (now Tongcheng, Anhui). Li Longmian is both Li Gonglin, whose surname is Boshi, and his ancestral home is Tongcheng, Anhui Province. Because there is a Longmian Mountain on the outskirts of Tongcheng, Li Gonglin once lived at the foot of the mountain, so he also calls himself Longmian Lay or Longmian Shanren. Shenzong Xining was a Jinshi for three years, and he joined the army in Sizhou. He was recommended by Lu Dian to be an official and imperial censor.

8. Gao Fenghan 高凤翰

Gao Fenghan (1683-1749), the 211th generation of the Gao family of Dahang in Jiaozhou, one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. Qing Dynasty painter, calligrapher, seal carver. Also known as Han, styled Xiyuan, numbered Nancun, also known as Nanfu, Yunfu, aliased to more than 40 places, time, and illness, etc., due to illness and wind paralysis in the late period, he used his left hand to paint and calligraphy, also known as Shang Zuosheng. . Han nationality, from Sanlihe Village, Jiaozhou, Shandong. At the beginning of Yongzheng, he was recommended by various students to become an official, and he was appointed as the county magistrate of Shexian County, and the county magistrate of Jixi was appointed, and he retired. He is bold and unrestrained in nature, fine art, painting landscapes, flowers and birds, art poetry, especially fond of inkstones, and thousands of Tibetan inkstones. There are “Inkstone History” and “Nanfu Collection”.

9. Xu Wei 徐渭

Xu Wei (March 12, 1521 – 1593), Han nationality, was a native of Shanyin, Shaoxing Prefecture (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang). The first character was Wenqing, and later the character was changed to the length of the character. Ming Dynasty famous writer, calligrapher and painter, dramatist, military strategist. Xu Wei is multi-talented and unique in poetry, drama, calligraphy and painting, etc. He is also known as the “Three Talents of the Ming Dynasty” along with Xie Jin and Yang Shen. He is the founder of China’s “Splashing Ink Freehand Painting School” and the originator of the “Qingteng Painting School”. His paintings can absorb the essence of predecessors and be reborn. Flowers are the most outstanding, creating a style of painting for a generation, and having a great influence on the painting circles of later generations (such as Bada Shanren, Shitao, Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics, etc.).

10. Yan Liben 阎立本

Yan Liben (about 601-673), born in Wannian, Yongzhou (now Lintong District, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province), was a statesman and painter in the Tang Dynasty. In the first year of Emperor Gaozong’s reign (656), Yan Liben succeeded his elder brother Yan Lide as a general master craftsman. In the same year, the general master craftsman was promoted to Minister of Work. In the first year of Zongzhang (668), he was promoted to the right minister, and he was named a male from Boling County. At that time, Jiang Ke was appointed as the left minister with his military exploits, so there was a saying that “the left minister declares the desert in the desert, and the right minister is famous in Danqing”. Yan Liben is good at craftsmanship, he is very ingenious, and he is good at painting and architecture. His brother Yan Lide is also good at painting, crafts and construction. Yan Pi, Yan Lide, Yan Liben and his son are famous for their craftsmanship and painting, and their representative works include “Picture of Walking Carriage” and “Statues of Emperors of All Dynasties”.