Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Zhao Mengjian
Southern Song clansman-painter from Haiyan, known for ink-outline narcissus and orchids, who travelled with his collection by boat
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.
Also known as Zi Zigu · Hao Yizhai
Zhao Mengjian, courtesy name Zigu, styled Yizhai Jushi, was a member of the Song imperial clan from Haiyan in Zhejiang. He passed the jinshi examination in 1226 and served in local posts. A keen collector of calligraphy and painting, he travelled the rivers and lakes with his collection aboard a boat, which contemporaries likened to Mi Fu's famous painting boat. He painted narcissus and orchids in fine ink outline, as well as plum and bamboo, with taut brushwork and pale washes. Ink Orchids is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and The Three Friends of Winter also bears his name; several handscrolls of narcissus survive, and which of them is autograph is still debated.
Life and times
Dates 1199–c. 1264 CE