Antao

       An Tao, also known as Zui Shi and Xu Zhai, is an artist, collector, connoisseur, and critic of the Rong Bao Zhai. He specializes in authenticating ancient and modern Chinese paintings and calligraphy, possesses profound expertise in art history and the laws of artistic development, and holds unique insights into the academic, aesthetic, and market dimensions of Chinese painting.
       Born in 1980 in Luzhou, Sichuan. He has worked for many years as an editor and writer in the field of Chinese painting and calligraphy art, and currently resides in Beijing, where he has long been engaged in the creation, collection, connoisseurship, and theoretical research of Chinese painting and calligraphy. Adhering to the literati painting tradition, he practices the grand ink-wash style, drawing inspiration from the brushwork spirit of Qi Baishi, and is a scholar-literati artist.
       Currently employed by Rong Bao Zhai Auction Co., Ltd., Beijing. Member of the China Collectors Association. Director of the JD Collectors Association. Deputy Director of the Yanshan Art Museum. Deputy Dean of the Institute of Classical Painting and Calligraphy Art. Secretary-General of the Bai Shi Painting Society.
       His ink paintings primarily focus on grand ink-wash floral and avian subjects, with occasional landscapes and figures of recluses. His painting style draws upon the brushwork essence of Xu Wei, Bada Shanren, Wu Changshuo, and Qi Baishi, while also incorporating strengths from contemporary masters such as Wu Yueshi, Guo Shifu, and Fan Cungang, integrating poetry, painting, calligraphy, and seal carving into a cohesive whole. His style is characterized by unrestrained ink splashes, and a harmonious balance of talent and intellectual depth. His calligraphy blends the stele style of Wei Bei with running and regular script, drawing inspiration from Qing-dynasty stele scholars such as Zhao Zhiqian, Yu Youren, and Zhang Boying, achieving a free and vigorous expression that reveals the demeanor of a learned scholar.