Gu Kaizhi

Gu Kaizhi (c. 344–406) was a prominent Chinese painter, politician, poet, and calligrapher during the Eastern Jin dynasty, regarded as one of the most significant early masters in Chinese art history.¹

Born in Wuxi, he is recorded to have first painted in Nanjing in 364. His career developed mainly in the Jiangnan region, the political and cultural heart of the era.¹

He served under Grand Marshal Huan Wen and his son Huan Xuan. Despite the political instability of the Eastern Jin dynasty, he maintained his career as both an official and a celebrated artist.¹

His masterpiece 'The Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies' illustrates a political satire; the oldest surviving copy (likely Tang dynasty) was taken by the British army in 1900 and is now in the British Museum.¹