Gao Tao (Chinese, 1100s)

b. 1100 — d. 1199

Gao Tao 高燾 was a twelfth-century northern artist from Mianzhou 沔州 (present-day Lueyang 略陽 county) in Shaanxi 陝西 province. He was recorded... as a "reclusive gentleman" (<em>yanxue shangshi</em> 巖穴上士) particularly known for paintings of intimate scenes that were "pure and remote, tranquil and profound," and of themes such as "sleeping ducks, floating geese, decaying willows and withered stalks."