I have seen Zhao and Ren Xiong's cooperative paintings (1823 ~ 1857). If we compare Zhao's Atlas of Flowers and Fruits at the Age of 3/kloc-0 (Shanghai Museum) and Ying Shu's Atlas of Flowers (Palace Museum) with Ren Xiong's Atlas of Yao Damei's Poetry (Palace Museum) and Dabaishan Museum's Atlas of Flowers (Palace Museum), it is not difficult to find many differences between them. Peony is similar to other flowers. After sketching and coloring, the method is the same. All kinds of flowers are densely interspersed and the layout is very similar. Their painting skills and concepts are interlinked. Zhao wrote in the Atlas of Twelve Flowers and Fruits: "Ren Wei is dead, who will talk to me?" Both of them are from Zhejiang, and they have intimate friends-Ding, the owner of Dabie Mountain Pavilion (word Shulan, 1827 ~ 1890). Ding and Ren are fellow villagers, both from Xiaoshan. Ding and Jiebai are brothers, and Ding Lanshu is good at poetry and calligraphy, keeping pace with Ren and Zhao, and their painting styles are similar, which shows their communication. It can be inferred that Zhao painted together and discussed painting theories with each other in his early years or under the influence of any post. As can be seen from the inscriptions in his paintings, the painters he used are Zhenwu, Shan Li, Zhang Yan, Yun, Yuan, Jiang Tingxi, Chen Hongshou, Ji Chen, Li, Jin Nong, Zou Yigui, Zhou Zhimian, Gao, Bian Shoumin, Wang Meng, Qian Zai, Chen Wang and Shen Meng. Among them, Yi Lee was mentioned the most, followed by Yun and Xu Wei.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the flower-and-bird painting represented by Yunnan Tian learned boneless techniques, caught up with the painting style of Xu Chongsi in the Northern Song Dynasty and created a new era style. At this time, the "Southern School" was formed. The appearance of "Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou" has washed away the exquisite atmosphere of Nantian School, and its freehand painting is magnificent. They learned from Xu Qingteng, Chen Boyang and Badashan people, painted with books, pursued the effect of words, and valued god over form, which was widely circulated among the people for a time. After the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou, freehand brushwork also declined. During the Daoguang period, the painting world was quite silent. It was during this period that Zhao was born. In the first year of Tongzhi (at the age of 34), he wrote four screens of running script for Youxi, one of which recorded a poem when 10 was old, saying, "My servant was ten years old and painted Song Yue Sheng Liang Tu". In this view, Zhao studied painting hard when he was young. Judging from his concept of painting handed down from generation to generation, he made great efforts in the boneless painting of Yunnan Tian. He is good at drawing lines, coloring and sketching, and critics call him "the painting method of Yun when he was young".
But Zhao is better at analysis and synthesis. He combines the boneless painting of Yunnan Tian with the freehand brushwork of "Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou". In particular, it draws lessons from Li Futang's small freehand brushwork and uses "Nantian" as the color. Combine the two schools of flower-and-bird painting in Qing Dynasty into one to create a new style. Because of his profound calligraphy skills and accurate line grasp, he sketched with this golden brush stroke, which is extensive, heavy and interesting. The use of various fonts and inscriptions is superior to poetic rhyme, which is also an important factor for him to be superior to other painters in the late Qing Dynasty and become a master of painting. He is a model of the organic combination of poetry, calligraphy and printing.
Throughout Zhao's handed down paintings, the most amazing thing is his painting theme, which has never been painted before. At the age of 33, he lived in Wenzhou to escape the war, where he saw novel flowers and seafood, and he wrote what he saw in his paintings, thus greatly expanding the theme of his paintings. His "Different Fish Map", "Volume in Europe and China" and "Four Screens of Vegetation Map in Europe and China" have become immortal masterpieces in China's painting history.
Because of his superb artistic achievements, Shanghai-centered artists, especially the new generation such as Wu Changshuo, were influenced by Zhao and gradually formed a brand-new school & Shanghai School. Pan Tianshou wrote in "The History of China Painting": "Huiji? Uncle Zhao, Jinshi calligraphy is as interesting as a flower, magnificent and beautiful, ranking first in Shanghai. " In fact, Zhao's influence is not limited to the sea, but also influenced by the northern masters such as Yu.