(b Ninghua, Fujian Province, 1687; d 1773). Chinese painter, calligrapher and poet. His father died when Huang was young, and in order to support the family Huang was obliged to pursue a professional career in painting. Although he specialized in portraiture and figure painting, he was also skilled as a painter of landscapes, plants and birds. His versatility was a characteristic he shared with his teacher, Shangguan Zhou (b 1665), a leading Fujian painter whose surviving works include Wanxiao tang huazhuan (‘Painting record of the Wanxiao Hall’), a woodblock-printed work depicting historical characters. Huang was encouraged by his mother to aspire to a loftier goal than that of a mere craftsman, the status generally accorded professional painters. He began his education at the age of 18; asserting the oneness of painting and poetry, he studied both arts and in 1734 published the Jiaohu shichao (‘Poetic anthology by Jiaohu’), Jiao hu being a lake to the north of Ninghua. He often included elegantly phrased inscriptions on his paintings, thereby incorporating poetry, calligraphy and painting in a single work. His calligraphy was initially modelled after the kaishu (regular script) of Zhong You (AD 151–230) but was later influenced by the caoshu (cursive script) of Huaisu. The best examples of his style are bold and sweeping, executed with an unerringly crisp and sure touch and with intricately spaced characters.

• Huang Shen
  • China, §V, 3(vii)(d): Figure painting: Qing and after
  • Yangzhou school