Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Yao Wenhan
Qianlong court painter of the Ruyi Studio from Beijing who painted the Banquet at the Hall of Purple Light
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 Hao Zhuoting
Yao Wenhan, art name Zhuoting, came from Shuntian, now Beijing, and served in the Ruyi Studio of the Qianlong court. He specialised in Buddhist and Daoist figures and also painted landscape and ruled-line architecture in a careful, brightly coloured manner; his Eighteen Scholars handscroll dates from 1752. In the first month of 1761 the Qianlong emperor feasted the commanders of the Dzungar and Altishahr campaigns and visiting chiefs at the newly rebuilt Hall of Purple Light, and Yao was ordered to paint the occasion; the handscroll, signed 'respectfully painted by your servant Yao Wenhan', is in the Palace Museum.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active in the Qianlong reign