Shen Chou

Related Category: Asian and Middle Eastern Art: Biographies

(shĕn jō), 1427–1509, Chinese painter of the Ming dynasty. He and Wen Cheng-Ming (1470–1559) were the two most important painters of the Wu school, a group of leading literati artists who lived in the region around Wu-Hsien. Withdrawn from worldly pursuits, Shen Chou developed a distinctive style through careful study of the works of the great Yuan dynasty masters. Some of his album leaves are owned by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo., and the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio.