Zhao Mengfu

Zhao Mengfu (1254 to 1322) was a Chinese calligrapher, painter and scholar active during the Yuan dynasty, descended from the Song dynasty's imperial family. He is credited with bringing about a revolution in Chinese landscape painting by rejecting the refined brushwork fashionable in his own time in favor of cruder eighth-century styles, and he was especially renowned for paintings of horses and for landscapes built from layered middle grounds that created a sense of depth. Presented to Kublai Khan in 1286 without initially receiving high office, his work was later greatly valued under the Yuan emperor Renzong, who made him a member of the Academy of Worthies. His wife Guan Daosheng was also an accomplished artist, and their son Zhao Yong became a noted painter and calligrapher in his own right.