Portrait painting boomed in the Tang Dynasty. There were two important portrait painters in the mid-Tang Dynasty, Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang. They were good at portraying court ladies. Their works symbolized a change in portraiture and were of special importance in Chinese painting history.

Spring Travel of the Guo State Queen by Zhang Xuan 　　

The trend of artistic development in any given historical period was influenced by the social consciousness, cultural background and economic development of the time. In the mid-Tang Dynasty, after a hundred years of development, political power was becoming stable and the economy was prospering; epicurism was becoming increasingly opular among the ruling class.

The portrait painting style initiated by Yan Liben of the early Tang Dynasty, which had aimed at praising country heroes, gradually lost its appeal. In many Buddhist paintings, goddesses were modeled after imperial court ladies, a development that indicated religious painting was becoming more realistic, and that secular painting was beginning to take on its initial form. Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang were two representative artists of the time.　

Practicing and Working by Zhuang Xuan

Zhang Xuan was a painter of the imperial court who was adept at drawing ladies, infants, horses and saddles. Forty-seven of his works were recorded in the Xuanhe Painting Book written in the Song Dynasty, but no authentic works by him are preserved. What we can see today are reproductions by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty of Zhang's Spring Travel of the Guo State Queen and Practicing and Working.

The Spring Travel of the Guo State Queen painting depicts the Guo State Queen, sister of the Emperor's most favored concubine Yang, who went for a spring trip with the Qin State Queen. The eight horseback-riding women in this painting are set in a well-conceived composition.

The spring atmosphere is revealed in the cheerful countenances of the ladies and their magnificent and beautiful clothes. Practicing and Working portrays scenes of the ladies exercising and sewing. The painting is divided into three parts; some figures are sitting, some standing, and they are looking at each other as if communicating. The painting vividly conveys the life interests of the imperial ladies in their detailed expressions and movements.

Ladies Playing Stringed Instruments by Zhou Fang

Zhou Fang was born in a noble family in Chang'an. His style of painting was influenced by Zhang Xuan. His portraiture is very expressive. Once he and another painter, Han Gan, each drew the portrait of the son-in-law of Guo Ziyi. The onlookers praised both works and couldn't decide which was better. When Guo Ziyi's daughter looked at the paintings, she commented that Han's painting captured her husband's appearance, whereas Zhou's picture had grasped his expression and inner qualities. From this story we can see that Zhou was skilled at portraying his subjects in a manner which revealed their character.

By Zhou Fang

Under his brushwork, the imperial ladies wore simple clothes in beautiful colors; most of them were plump. His representative works are Ladies with Head-pinned Flowers, Ladies Playing with Fans, and Ladies Playing Stringed Instruments. Ladies with Head-pinned Flowers depicts the life of court ladies -- the rotund concubines wearing magnificent clothes strolling in the flower garden. The background is very simple as the artistic conception of the painting is mostly reflected through the expressions of the female figures.

Ladies Playing with Fans by Zhou Fang

The Han and Wei Dynasty portrait painting had a more religious and moral content, whereas Zhang Xuan's and Zhou Fang's portrait paintings emphasized real life. As forerunners of secular lady paintings, they had a big influence on later paintings of court ladies.