Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Gu Hongzhong
Southern Tang court painter of figures who, by the Xuanhe catalogue's account, was sent to watch Han Xizai's night parties and paint them
A desk holds an unrolled sheet bearing three bold black ink strokes, with a rack of many brushes above it, a stone ink slab and ink stick, a porcelain bowl, a red lacquer box, a dish of red seal paste and a paperweight; a small seated figure shows through a round window onto bamboo.
Gu Hongzhong, from the Jiangnan region, served as a painter in attendance at the court academy of Li Yu, last ruler of the Southern Tang, and was known for figure painting; his dates are unknown. The Xuanhe Catalogue of Paintings says that the minister Han Xizai held notoriously lavish parties, and that Li Yu, wanting to see them, sent Gu to his house at night to watch, memorize and paint what he saw: the origin of The Night Revels of Han Xizai. The Northern Song palace also held his Emperor Ming Striking the Paulownia. The Night Revels handscroll in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is attributed to him, but scholars generally regard it as a Song copy.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active under Li Yu, last ruler of Southern Tang (961-975)