Wen Shu or Wen Chu was a Chinese illustrator and painter who worked under the art name Hanshan and was known for her paintings of flora and small insects during the Ming dynasty.
16 Facts About Wen Shu
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Wen Shu is considered the finest flower painter of the period.
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Wen Shu's work was popular at the time, and consistently sells well at auction.
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Wen Shu's painting Rising Early in the Spring to Lament Flowers was sold at Christie's New York on 16 September 2015 for US$413,000, four times its estimate.
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Wen Shu was the great-granddaughter of Wen Zhengming, a leading Ming dynasty painter of the Wu School whose family were highly respected in the movement.
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Wen Shu's father was Wen Congjian, a landscape painter, and taught both his children to paint from a young age.
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Wen Shu's brother, Wen Ran, was a calligrapher and landscape painter.
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Wen Shu married Zhao Yun who was a student of her father and a member of the House of Zhao.
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Wen Shu was sought out as a tutor by both married women and girls in the gentry.
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Wen Shu worked under the pen-name Hanshan, among others, and in a range of formats.
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Wen Shu focused on a few essential elements in the composition presented against a plain background.
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Wen Shu's approach is seen as intimate rather than showy, with a careful composition that often frames glimpses of delicate flowers with rough rocks.
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Wen Shu is noted for an attention to detail, even when she was using the mogu technique.
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Wen Shu's style is reflected in work by later artists, such as Yun Shouping.
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Wen Shu was cited in inscriptions and seals by later female artists.
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Chinese art critic Wang Wenzhi, writing in the 1700s, asserted that Wen Shu's work was so special and sensitive that it could not be duplicated by a man and cited Luo Qilan and Wang Yuyan as her artistic descendants.