Zhao Lingrang
Elegant gold-and-blue landscape painter
Zhao Lingrang(赵令穰) (birth and death years unknown), courtesy name Danian, was a painter from Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng, Henan) during the Northern Song Dynasty. He was a fifth-generation descendant of Song Taizu, Zhao Kuangyin. He held official positions such as Defense Commissioner of Guangzhou and Military Inspector of Chongxin, and after his death, he was posthumously honored as 'Kaifu Yitong Sansi' and granted the title 'Duke of Rongguo'. Zhao Lingrang specialized in painting landscapes, flowers and fruits, and bird-and-animal subjects, with elegant and graceful brushwork. He was especially known for his gold-and-blue landscapes. He studied under Li Sixun and his son. His representative works include 'The Meeting of Wind and Clouds', 'Spring Mountains', 'Agemo', 'Later Red Cliff', 'Literary Gathering', and 'Birds and Sparrows'. Works that have survived to the present include 'Han Palace', 'Agemo', and 'Ten Thousand Pines and Golden Pavilion'.