Chen HongShou

Chen HongShou was born in 1598 (during the Ming Dynasty) in Zhuji, Zhejiang province, China, and died in 1652. He was a Chinese artist known for his curious and masterfully paintings of ancient personalities, painting peculiar human figures, landscapes, flowers and birds. His Works are caught between the decline of the Ming dynasty and the conquest of the foreign Manchus, who established the Qing dynasty. He became a Buddhist monk in 1646 but was torn between the conflicting ideals of Confucian government service and Buddhist retirement. His paintings suggest something of those tensions in dealing with ancient subjects and figure styles. . His two masterpieces," Shui Hu Ye Zi" (水浒叶子) and "Bo Gu Ye Zi", were the rare examples among the Ming and the Qing dynasties. He was very famous at that time, called "Chen in South and Cui in North", together with Cui Zizhong. He also was skilled in calligraphy,poetry and prose.

Source: http://www.britannica.com/biography/Chen-Hongshou

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