Fanlong

CHINA, Zhejiang, Huzhou; Southern Song dynasty

Fanlong, also known as Maozong or Wuzhu, was a monk and painter from Jingshan (present day Huzhou, Zhejiang). He excelled at painting landscapes, flowers, birds, and Buddhist and Daoist figures. Often working to emulate Li Gonglin, Li Rihua of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) commented that Fanlong very much emulated him in spirit. Li also stated that his paintings were lively, and “even the eyebrows, eyelashes, and nostrils seem active.”
His painting, Six Eminent Monks, includes a postscript commenting that Fanlong’s depictions of the six eminent monks resembled those painted by Li Boshi, but the personalities portrayed resemble those painted by Yan Liben. His other piece, Sixteen Arhats, had a great impact on later generations. Master Zhongfeng Mingben commented that, although the arhats looked a bit peculiar, their cultivated mentality is alike. It also includes a postscript written by Qian Xuan. This painting is now kept at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., USA.