Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Chen Mei
Qing court painter from Louxian who led the five-man team that painted the Qing Court Version of Along the River During the Qingming Festival in 1736
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 Zaidong · Hao Dianlun
Chen Mei, courtesy name Zaidong, styled Dianlun, came from Louxian, in today's Songjiang district of Shanghai, and served as a court painter with the rank of vice director in the Imperial Household Department. He first studied Song painting, blended it with the manner of the Ming painter Tang Yin, and learned Western perspective from Jiao Bingzhen. In 1736 he painted the Qing Court Version of Along the River During the Qingming Festival together with Sun Hu, Jin Kun, Dai Hong and Cheng Zhidao; the scroll is now in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. His album Pastimes of Court Ladies (Yueman qingyou tu) is in the Palace Museum in Beijing, and joint scrolls he worked on in 1740 and 1744 are listed in the Shiqu baoji catalogue. Sources disagree on whether he entered court service under Kangxi or Yongzheng, and his dates are unknown.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active in the Yongzheng and early Qianlong reigns (dated works 1736-1744)