Zhao Guangfu

CHINA, Shaanxi, Tongchuan; Southern Tang Kingdom to Northern Song dynasty (937–1127)

Zhao Guangfu was a painter and native of Huayuan (present day Yaozhou, Tongchuan). A student of the Imperial Painting Academy, his strengths were in drawing Buddhist and Daoist figures, as well as horses. His painting method was powerful and sharp.
Having often worked on temple murals, examples of Zhao’s paintings can be seen at Kaiyuan Temple and Longxing Temple in Henan. At Kaiyuan Temple, he illustrated murals of Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmaraksa Propagating the Dharma. He also painted an Illustration of the Hells at the Bathing Courtyard as well as a painting of Five Hundred Eminent Masters.
Paintings by Zhao are recorded in Overview of Painting and Evaluation of Famous Painters of the Song Dynasty. Kings Paying Respect to the Buddha, which is attributed to him, is kept at the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio, USA. In the image, the chiefs and kings of various minority tribes stand in reverence paying respect to the Buddha.