One of the famous painters of the Ming Dynasty: Zhang Hong
Zhang Hong, a late representative figure of the Wu School, was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. He is good at painting landscapes, focusing on life, with strong brushstrokes, moist ink colors, overlapping mountains, and deep autumn ravines, which have the ancient meaning of the Yuan Dynasty; his paintings of stone surfaces are characterized by crackling and dyeing. He was a backbone figure in the Wu sect painting circles in the late Ming Dynasty.
In the late Ming Dynasty (from Jiajing and Wanli to Chongzhen), there were new changes in various painting subjects including landscapes, figures, and flowers. There are many factions, each with different styles. In particular, flower paintings have outstanding achievements, and the main representative painter is Xu Wei. Following Chen Jiuyang, he became more indulgent in his writing, breaking through conventions, boldly creating, using horizontal and vertical strokes, dripping with ink, and expressing his distinct personality. His style of painting had a huge impact on the entire mid-Qing Dynasty and the painting world in the past hundred years. At the same time, Zhou Zhimian and Sun Kechi were also famous for their flower and bird paintings. Their painting techniques combined with calligraphy were more delicate and beautiful, forming a unique style. In terms of landscape painting, the late Ming Dynasty was the most prosperous period for landscape painting. The most prominent ones are some insightful people in the later period of Wumen School of Painting. They attach great importance to inheriting the tradition of pen and ink of the ancients and regard the pursuit of style as an important purpose of art. Moreover, because they have profound cultural accomplishment and their own aesthetic pursuits, they also have a certain degree of creativity. Their brush and ink skills and expression techniques had a great influence on the later painting world. A group of outstanding painters emerged who followed nature and paid attention to sketching, and Zhang Hong was one of the best.