Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Xugu
Late Qing monk painter, once an army officer, who sold paintings in Yangzhou and Shanghai and was known for goldfish, squirrels and fruit
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 Lay name Zhu Huairen · Also named Xubai
Xugu was born Zhu Huairen to a family from Xin'an, today's Shexian in Anhui, long settled in Yangzhou. He served as a regimental officer in the Qing army before becoming a monk under the name Xugu, and thereafter supported himself by selling paintings in Yangzhou, Suzhou and Shanghai. A friend of Ren Yi and Hu Gongshou, he belonged to the late Qing Shanghai painters and was known for goldfish, squirrels, fruit and vegetables and landscapes drawn in angular, dry strokes, as well as portraits. The Palace Museum, Beijing, holds his Wisteria and Goldfish. His poems survive as the Xugu heshang shilu. He died in Shanghai in 1896.
Life and times
Dates 1824 CE–1896 CE (birth by another account 1823)