Zhe school
Description
The Zhe school (Chinese: 浙派, zhè pài) was a school of painters and was part of the Southern School, which thrived during the Ming dynasty. The school was led by Dai Jin, traditionally considered its founder. The "Zhe" of the name refers to Dai Jin's home province – Zhejiang. The school was not a school in the proper sense of the word in that the painters did not formulate a new distinctive style, preferring instead to further the style of the Southern Song, specializing in decorative and large paintings. Instead, the school was identified by the formal, academic and conservative outlook, being a revival in the early Ming dynasty of the Ma-Xia (Ma Yuan and Xia Gui), 'academic', style of painting landscapes of the Southern Song. Read more ↗
Key Artists
Dai Jin
Ming dynasty master from Zhejiang traditionally recognized as the founder of the Zhe school, who revived and energized the academic Ma-Xia Southern Song landscape style.
Wu Wei
Leading professional court painter of the Zhe school favored by the Chenghua and Hongzhi Emperors, celebrated for his vigorous, rapid, and untamed brushwork.
Zhang Lu
Prominent Zhe school master and follower of Wu Wei who painted bold, dynamic Daoist figures and atmospheric landscapes with sweeping, calligraphic brush speed.
Wang E
Ming court painter praised by the Hongzhi Emperor as 'Dai Jin reincarnated,' who mastered the conservative academic landscape with precise axe-cut texture strokes.
Xia Zhi
Early Ming professional landscape painter from Qiantang, Zhejiang, who worked closely alongside Dai Jin in perpetuating the academic court manner.
Famous Artworks
Fun Facts
The name 'Zhe school' derives from Zhejiang province, the homeland of founder Dai Jin and the historical seat of the Southern Song capital Hangzhou, whose academic styles Dai Jin proudly revived.
↗ Source: en.wikipedia.org
While later literati critics of the Wu School often dismissed Zhe school professional painters as overly commercialized and academic, their bold, vigorous brush styles were immensely popular at the Ming court and heavily influenced Muromachi-period Japanese ink painters.
↗ Source: en.wikipedia.org