Wang Zhao
Bold, unrestrained Ming Zhejiang school painter
Wang Zhao(汪肇) (from Xiuning, Anhui), styled Dechu(德初) and also known as Haiyun(海雲), was one of the representative painters of the later Zhejiang school in the Ming Dynasty. His artistic style falls somewhere between Dai Jin and Wu Wei. He was skilled in landscapes, figures, and freehand flowers and birds, using bold and sometimes careless brushwork, and he was also good at finger-ink techniques. His notable work, *Willow and White Pheasant Painting* (now in the Palace Museum in Beijing), combines meticulous and freehand styles with rich colors, while *Rising Dragon* uses splash-ink techniques to show the dragon’s leaping energy. Wang Zhao, along with Jiang Song and Zhang Lu, was widely influential in the Nanjing area, though some literati criticized his style as "wild and unorthodox." His works aren’t bound by conventional meanings, reflecting a free-spirited and unrestrained artistic personality.