Wu Wei (painter)

Wu Wei, Celebration at the Fishing Village
In this Chinese name, the family name is Wu.

Wu Wei (traditional Chinese: 吳偉; simplified Chinese: 吴伟; pinyin: Wú Wěi; ca. 1459–1508) was a painter of Ming dynasty (1368–1644) China famous for his landscapes.

Wu was born in Wuchang in Hubei province.[1] His style names were Shiying and Ciweng, and his sobriquets were Lufu and Xiaoxian.[2]

Although he was born into a family of scholar-officials and might have pursued a career in the bureaucracy, Wu Wei instead chose to support himself as a painter. He worked as a professional painter in the city of Nanjing, and three emperors summoned him to work as a court painter in Beijing: the Chenghua emperor (r. 1465–87), the Hongzhi emperor (r. 1488–1505), and the Zhengde emperor (r. 1506–21).[3]

Wu Wei is known as a landscape painter, and, at least early in his career, he was inspired by the work of Dai Jin (1388–1462). He also painted figures.[3] Wu painted in a strong, fluent, and uninhibited style, and took on many students to teach.

  1. ^ "Wu Wei Brief Biography". Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  2. ^ "Wu Wei". Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Oxford University Press. 2011. doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00199498. ISBN 978-0-19-977378-7. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b Brunst, Vyvyan; Cahill, James (2003). "Wu Wei [zi Shiying, Ciweng; hao Lufu, Xiaoxian]". Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T092441. ISBN 978-1-884446-05-4. Retrieved 14 October 2021.