Ladies Playing Stringed Instruments by Zhou Fang

Zhou Fang was born in a noble family in Chang'an. His style of painting was influenced by Zhang Xuan. His portraiture is very expressive. Once he and another painter, Han Gan, each drew the portrait of the son-in-law of Guo Ziyi. The onlookers praised both works and couldn't decide which was better. When Guo Ziyi's daughter looked at the paintings, she commented that Han's painting captured her husband's appearance, whereas Zhou's picture had grasped his expression and inner qualities. From this story we can see that Zhou was skilled at portraying his subjects in a manner which revealed their character.

By Zhou Fang

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