Gu Kaizhi, the Matchless Painter

Gu Kaizhi (c.345-406 AD) was an outstanding painter in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Later generations grouped him together with Lu Tanwei, Zhang Sengyao and Wu Daozi, and called them the “Four Ancestors of Painting” Gu traveled all over south China accumulating rich materials for his paintings.

Gu Kaizhi was especially good at figure painting. He maintained that a subject’s heart could be read through looking deep into his or her eyes. he once painted a figure without eyes in a temple .upon the visit ,he dotted eyes on the spot .the figure were suddenly full of energy and seemed come to life. Gu Kaizhi’s works have long been lost; what remain nowadays are only facsimiles of his Picture Scroll of Female Scholars, Picture Scroll of the Luoshui River Nymph and Picture Scroll of Virtuous Ladies.