Zhao Mengfu

Zhao Mengfu was a Chinese calligrapher, painter and scholar of the Yuan dynasty and a descendant of the imperial family of the Song dynasty. Recommended by the censor-in-chief Cheng Jufu, he had an audience with Kublai Khan at Dadu in 1286 but received no important office; his work was later greatly appreciated by Emperor Renzong. Turning from the refined brushwork of his own era to the cruder style of the eighth century, he is considered to have brought about a revolution that created the modern Chinese landscape painting, and he was known for his paintings of horses. He was married to the poet, painter and calligrapher Guan Daosheng and the maternal grandfather of the painter Wang Meng.