Shi Tao

Shi Tao (石涛) : original name Zhu Ruoji (朱若极), style names Da Dizi (大涤子), Qing Xiang (清湘), native of Quanzhou, Guangxi Province; descendant of Ming royalty; poet, painter and bird painting theorist, an important representative of the Mount Huangshan school of painting in the early Qing period. Together with Zhu Da, Kun Can and Jian Jiang, he was one of the Four Monk Painters, famed for their trailblazing spirit. In this painting “Lotus in a Vase” dedicated to a newlywed couple the lotus in the vase takes up three quarters of the picture surface, leaving the remaining space for an inscription. In Chinese, the characters of lotus and harmony sound the same, and the lotus is a prolific producer of seeds; therefore a painting featuring a lotus augurs a harmonious and prolific life. Adding a touch of dark ink to the tips of lotus petals for an enhanced effect was an innovation by Shi Tao, which has found its way into the lotus paintings by later painters such as Zhang Daqian and Lu Yanshao.

source: The Art Book of Chinese Paintings, published by Long River Press