Zhou Chen

Zhou Chen was a Chinese painter active during the middle of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). He was born in 1460 in Suzhou in the Jiangsu province. Zhou's style name was 'Shunqing' and his sobriquet was 'Dongchun'. He specialized in painting landscapes and human figures. He was influenced by the style of the Yuan dynasty painters, especially Ni Zan and Wang Meng. He also admired the works of Shen Zhou and Wen Zhengming, who were his contemporaries and friends. He was skilled in both ink and color painting, and often used fine brushwork and delicate shading. He also wrote poems and essays to accompany his paintings, showing his literary talent and erudition. He was one of the founders of the Wu School of painting, along with Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, and Tang Yin. He had many students and followers, such as Qiu Ying and Xu Wei. He died around 1535 or 1536.