Zhou Fang

Chinese

Defined Tang noblewomen with plump elegance

Zhou Fang(周昉) (birth and death years unknown), courtesy name Jingxuan, also known as Zhonglang, was from Jingzhao (now Xi'an, Shaanxi) and was a famous painter of the Tang Dynasty. He came from a prestigious family and served successively as Chief Historian in Yuezhou and Xuanzhou. He could write and was skilled at painting figures and Buddhist images, especially excelling in painting noblewomen. His works depicted women with dignified appearances, full-bodied figures, and soft, lovely colors, which were favored by the court and the literati at the time. He became an important figure painter in mid-Tang, following Wu Daozi, and was well-known as both a religious and figure painter. In his early years, he imitated Zhang Xuan(张萱) but later developed his own distinctive style. Zhou Fang’s paintings of women featured dignified appearances, plump figures, and soft, lovely colors. He also created the brilliantly styled "Shuiyue Guanyin" (Water-and-Moon Avalokiteshvara), which people came to call the "Zhou Family Style." Some of his surviving works include the scrolls "Beauties Adorning Their Hair with Flowers," "Beauty Waving a Fan," and "Playing the Zither and Sipping Tea."