Zhu Daoping 朱道平

Born in Huangyan, Zhejiang Province in 1949, Zhu Daoping graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Nanjing Fine Arts Academy in 1977. Even before his graduation, his paintings were exhibited in the annual national art exhibition in 1973. Since 1998, he has been President of the Nanjing Institute of Calligraphy and Painting. In 2004, he received the first prestigious Huang Binhong Award. Growing up in the Nanjing area, Zhu is closely related to the New Jinling (Nanjing) School, artists of which are deeply influenced by Fu Baoshi and the lush landscapes of southern China. While the application of dotted surfaces in Zhu's paintings evoke memories of the style of the 17th century masters, such as Mei Qing (1623-1697) and Shi Tao (1641-1718), Zhu goes further by re-discovering and emphasizing the relationship between dots, lines and the pictorial surface, and has created a modern aesthetic that is still rooted in the long tradition of Chinese painting.