Name Chen Shu | Role Painter | |
Chen Shu (simplified Chinese: 陈书; traditional Chinese: 陳書; pinyin: Chen Shu; 1660–1736) was a female Chinese painter during the early Qing Dynasty (1644–1912).
Chen was born in Xiuzhou (now Jiaxing), and was also known by her style name Nanlou and her literary names "Shangyuan Dizi" and "Nanlou Laoren". Apart from her artistic works, she was best known as the mother of Qing Dynasty statesman and poet Qian Chenqun (zh:钱陈群). After the early death of her husband, Chen raised her son by herself. When the latter became a prominent statesman in the court of the Qianlong Emperor, he introduced the emperor to his mother's paintings.
Through this avenue she became favored by the Qianlong Emperor, and many of her works were featured in the imperial collection (today in both the Palace Museum in Beijing and the National Palace Museum in Taipei). Chen painted figures, landscapes, and flower-and-bird paintings.