Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Zhao Zhiqian
Late Qing calligrapher, painter and seal carver from Shaoxing who brought Northern Wei stele style into all three arts and died as a county magistrate in Jiangxi
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 Huishu · Hao Bei'an · First zi Yifu
Zhao Zhiqian, first styled Yifu and later Huishu, with many sobriquets including Bei'an, came from Kuaiji, today's Shaoxing in Zhejiang. He passed the provincial examination in 1859 but failed the metropolitan examination repeatedly, and was posted to Jiangxi as a magistrate, serving in Poyang, Fengxin and Nancheng, where he died in office in 1884. A student of epigraphy, he wrote every script in a manner drawn from Northern Wei steles, carved seals that blended Qin and Han seals with stele lettering, and painted flowers in strong colour with an epigraphic edge; Wu Changshuo and Qi Baishi owed much to him. His works include Liuchao biezi ji and a supplement to the catalogue of steles, and his seals were collected as the Erjindie tang yinpu.
Life and times
Dates 1829 CE–1884 CE