Jiang Zhaohe is called father of modern Chinese figure painting for introducing Western pictorial realism, notably three-dimensionality and modelled form, into traditional Chinese brushwork.
His paintings, which at a distance look like pencil drawings, are actually carried out in fine washes of ink on Chinese xuan paper, a highly unforgiving medium. Apart from reforming the traditional technique, Jiang is most celebrated for his commitment to recording the suffering of the deprived and oppressed.
