Fan Changshou

CHINA; Tang dynasty

Fan Changshou was a painter whose style was modeled after that of Zhang Sengyao. He specialized in depicting Buddhist and Daoist figures in addition to landscapes, animals, and folklore customs. Fan was renowned for his vivid expressions of farm life and its figures.
According to Records of Temples and Pagodas, Fan painted two murals entitled Illustration of the West and Sixteen Reflecting Treasure Ponds on the west corridor of Sanjie Hall at Zhaojing Gong Temple. The ponds were particularly exceptional, emitting a feeling of depth upon close observation. Famous Paintings in History records a variety of other temple murals painted by Fan, and Xuanhe Catalog of Paintings recorded two of his scroll paintings. It was commented that Fan deeply understood the personalities and customs of the people he portrayed in his paintings, enabling him to breath life into his depictions of agriculture. In addition, the shape and terrain of the mountains and rivers in his landscapes were orderly and accurately arranged. He received outstanding recognition from the people of his era, who regarded his skill as comparable with that of Zhang Sengyao.