Ren Zhong (; born 1976) is a Chinese calligrapher, painter, and art collector known for his

gongbi ''Gongbi'' () is a careful realist technique in Chinese painting, the opposite of the interpretive and freely expressive '' xieyi'' (寫意 'sketching thoughts') style. The name is from the Chinese ''gong jin'' meaning 'tidy' (meticulous brush ...

paintings and

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

. His artworks have been exhibited in the

National Art Museum of China The National Art Museum of China (NAMOC; ) is the national art museum of China and one of the largest art museums in the nation. Located in Beijing and opened since 1963, it is a level-1 public welfare institution funded by the Ministry of Cultur ...

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall The National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. It is a memorial to the Republic of China's National Father, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, and was completed in 1972. The total building area covers in an open space o ...

Yunnan Provincial Museum Yunnan Provincial Museum () is a cultural heritage museum in Kunming, China. Established in 1951, it houses an exhibition centered on Yunnan's ethnic minorities, as well as a collection of artifacts from tomb excavations at Jinning on the sou ...

, and

Rong Bao Zhai Rong Bao Zhai (, Studio of Glorious Treasures) is an old stationery, calligraphy and painting shop in Beijing, China. It is located in Liulichang outside the Hepingmen Gate. History Rong Bao Zhai was founded in 1672 (11th year of the Kangxi ...

Biography

Ren Zhong was born in

Yinchuan Yinchuan is the capital of the Ningxia, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut people, Tangut-led Western Xia, Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 C ...

, Ningxia Autonomous Region in 1976. While his father taught him traditional Chinese painting and poetry, Ren developed a strong interest in

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

and

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

paintings and literature. He started to practice painting and calligraphy since childhood and won the Golden Award at the National “Star Cup” Painting and Calligraphy Exhibition at the age of 16. In 1997, a selection of his works was exhibited at the First European Exhibition of Chinese Art and First International Exhibition of Fan Paintings and Calligraphies hosted by the

Ministry of Culture of China The Ministry of Culture (MOC) was a ministry of the government of the People's Republic of China which was dissolved on 19 March 2018. The responsibilities of the MOC, which were assumed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, encompassed cultu ...

. Since then, his works have been exhibited in major art museums and galleries around the country, including the

Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall The National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. It is a memorial to the Republic of China's National Father, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, and was completed in 1972. The total building area covers in an open space o ...

, and

Sichuan Museum Sichuan is a Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capita ...

. He is Chair of

Artists Association, and a member of the Ningxia Artists Association. His presence on an international level includes being featured on Masterpiece London,

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (US), Hong Kong and Paris. Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, an ...

Hong Kong, and Casa Natale di Leonardo da Vinci.

Influence and theme

Ren have been influenced by the

Southern School The Southern School () of Chinese painting, often called '' literati painting'' (), is a term used to denote art and artists which stand in opposition to the formal Northern School () of painting. The distinction is not geographic, but relates ...

of ink painting and modern ink painting master

Chang Dai-chien Chang Dai-chien or Zhang Daqian (; 10 May 1899 – 2 April 1983) was one of the best-known and most prodigious Chinese artists of the twentieth century. Originally known as a '' guohua'' (traditionalist) painter, by the 1960s he was also renowne ...

, as well as traditional Chinese culture and

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...

. He believes any ordinary activities of human life – including art practices - is a manifestation of the sacred. As he puts heavy emphasis on humanism and harmony among nature and society, both his creative process and the final works echo to this belief. “The investigation on traditional masterpieces and techniques, the observation of nature, and the devotion to traditional culture… few people can dedicate themselves to such hard work persistently”, foremost Chinese artist and scholar Chen Peiqiu commented, “therefore, Ren’s works have captured all aspects of Gongbi art comprehensively, from figures to landscape to animals, from the Song Dynasty to the modern era, he is such a well-rounded artist.”

Auction

Ren Zhong's artworks have been offered at auction multiple times. In 2013, his ink and colour on silk '' Seven Sages'' achieved a realized price of 8.85 million

Chinese yuan The renminbi ( ; currency symbol, symbol: Yen and yuan sign, ¥; ISO 4217, ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB), also known as the Chinese yuan, is the official currency of the China, People's Republic of China. The renminbi is issued by the Peop ...

(approximately $1.25 million US dollars) at

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

Beijing

References

External links

Official WebsiteRen Zhong's Page on Artron
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ren, Zhong 1976 births Living people 21st-century Chinese calligraphers 21st-century Chinese painters Artists from Ningxia Chinese art collectors People from Yinchuan