Wu Zhen () (1280–1354 C.E.) was a Chinese painter during the

Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

. He was best known for being one of the Four Masters of the Yuan.

Biography

He was born in Weitang (now known as Chengguan). Most of his family is unknown. Zhen graduated being educated in philosophy and swordsmanship. Shortly after his graduation, he chose to become a painter. His paintings did not sell well, but he had close friends who taught him how to paint, including Wu Guan, Zhang Guan, and Tao Zhongyi.

Artworks

Many of Zhen's artworks were

landscape paintings Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composi ...

and paintings of bamboo. He also occasionally inserted poems into his artworks, which also helped him become better at calligraphy, poetry and artwork simultaneously. Wu Zhen, Hermit Fisherman on Lake Dongting.jpg, Wu Zhen, ''Hermit Fisherman on

Lake Dongting Dongting Lake () is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River, so its volume depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their location relative to the lake ...

'' Wu Zhen - Fisherman.jpg, Wu Zhen, ''Fisherman'',

National Palace Museum The National Palace Museum (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Kwet-li̍p kù-kiung pok-vu̍t-yèn), is a museum in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). It has a permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of Chinese artifacts and artworks, many of which wer ...

References

External links

Landscapes Clear and Radiant: The Art of Wang Hui (1632–1717)
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Wu Zhen (see index) 1280 births 1354 deaths 14th-century Chinese painters Artists from Jiaxing Painters from Zhejiang Yuan dynasty painters {{commonscat