- Wang Xizhi
Wang Xizhi was a Chinese calligrapher, traditionally referred to as the Sage of Calligraphy (書聖). Born in Linyi, Shandong, he spent most of his life in the present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang. He learned the art of calligraphy from Wei Shuo. He excelled in every script but particularly in the semi-cursive script. Unfortunately, none of his original works remains today. His most famous work is the "Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion", … - Edward Johnston
Edward Johnston (11 February 1872 - 26 November 1944), was a British scholar who is credited with the revival of calligraphy. He started teaching at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London's Regent Street, where he influenced the typeface designer and sculptor Eric Gill. Then he moved on to the Royal Society of Arts and many students were inspired by his teachings. - Hermann Zapf
Hermann Zapf (born November 8, 1918) is a prolific German typeface designer who lives in Darmstadt, Germany. He is married to calligrapher and typeface designer Gudrun Zapf von Hesse. Zapf's work has suffered the two-edged sword of veneration, as his designs, which include Palatino and Optima, have been perhaps the most widely admired - and plagiarized - of any of the twentieth century. The best known example of this being Monotype's Book Antiqua, … - Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong (also "Mao Tse-tung" in Wade-Giles;) was a Chinese Marxist military and political leader and philosopher, who led the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Mao is also recognized as a poet and calligrapher. Regarded as one of the most important figures in modern world history, … - Su Shi
Su Shi (1037–1101) was a writer, poet, artist, calligrapher, pharmacologist, and statesman of the Song Dynasty, one of the major poets of the Song era. His courtesy name was Zizhan and his pseudonym was Dongpo Jushi (“Resident of Dongpo”), and he is often referred to as Su Dongpo - Mi Fu
Mi Fu (1051–1107), also known as Mi Fei (米芾), was a Chinese painter, poet, and calligrapher born in Taiyuan, Shanxi during the Song Dynasty. In painting he gained renown for his style of painting misty landscapes. This style would be deemed the "Mi Fu" style and involved the use of large wet dots of ink applied with a flat brush. His poetry followed the style of Li Bai and his calligraphy that of Wang Xizhi. - Zhao Mengfu
Zhao Mengfu (styled (字) Ziang 子昂, self-styled (号) Songxue ("Pine Snow") 松雪 Oubo ("Gull Waves") 鸥波 Shuijing gong dao ren "Master of the Crystal Palace" 水精宫道人 and others) (1254-1322) a Prince and descendant of the Song Dynasty, was a Chinese scholar, painter and calligrapher during the Yuan Dynasty. He was married to Guan Daosheng, who was also an accomplished poet, painter and calligrapher. - Jan Tschichold
Jan Tschichold (April 2 1902 Leipzig, Germany - August 11 1974 Locarno, Switzerland) was a typographer, book designer, teacher and writer. - Yan Zhenqing
Yan Zhenqing (709 - 785) was a leading Chinese calligrapher and a loyal governor of the Tang Dynasty. His artistic accomplishment in Chinese calligraphy parallels the greatest master calligraphers throughout the history, and his calligraphy style, "Yan", is the textbook-style that every calligraphy lover has to imitate today. - Zhang Xu
Zhang Xu, courtesy name: Bogao 伯高), was a Chinese calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty. A native of Suzhou, he became an official during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Zhang was known as one of the Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup. Legend has it that whenever he was drunk, he would use his hair as brush to perform his art, and upon his waking up, he would be amazed by the quality of those works but failed to produce them again in his sober state. - Rudolf Koch
Rudolf Koch (November 20, 1876 - April 9, 1934) was a leading German calligrapher, typographic artist and teacher, born in Nuremberg. He was primarily a calligrapher with the Gebr. Klingspor foundry. He created several fonts, both in fraktur and normal formats. Fritz Kredel studied under Koch. Koch wrote a book comprised of 493 old-world symbols, monograms and runes entitled "The Book of Signs" which was published in 1955 by Dover Publications, INC. - Arthur Baker
Arthur Baker is the creator of a distinctive and dramatic style of brush and pen calligraphy. Arthur Baker was born on the West coast of the United States. He studied letter forms and historical calligraphic styles, about which he wrote many books. Baker designed his own pens and brushes. Baker lives in Andover, Massachusetts. His hobbies include designing, making and flying paper airplanes. - Dong Qichang
Dong Qichang was the son of a teacher and somewhat precocious as a child. At 12 he passed the prefectural civil service examination and won a coveted spot at the prefectural Government school. He first took the imperial civil service exam at seventeen, but placed second to a cousin because his calligraphy was clumsy. This led him to train until he became a noted calligrapher. Once this occurred he rose up the ranks of the imperial service passing the highest level at the age of 35. - Hassan Massoudy
Hassan Massoudy is an Iraqi calligrapher who has published many collections of his work.He was born in 1944, in Najaf and currently lives in Paris, France. - Huang Tingjian
Huang Tingjian, is predominantly known as a calligrapher but was also admired for his painting and poetry. He was one of the Four masters of the Song Dynasty. Huang was a student of Su Shi at his school of literati painting. Huang is generally regarded as the finest and most creative calligrapher of the Song Dynasty. His kaishu displays a sharpness and aggression which is instantly recognisable to the student of Chinese calligraphy. - Hasan Çelebi
Hasan Çelebi,, born 1937 in Erzurum, Turkey is a world-renowned Turkish master of Arabic calligraphy. Çelebi has devoted his whole life to calligraphy. He is an internationally recognized artist with his mosque inscriptions, special writings and exhibitions. In 1987, the Saudi government invited Celebi to perform decorative inscriptions at the two newly rebuilt masjids, the Quba Mosque whose foundation stone was laid by the Prophet Muhammad himself, … - Wen Zhengming
Wen Zhengming was a leading Ming Dynasty painter, calligrapher, and scholar. Born in present-day Suzhou, he claimed to be a descendant of the Song Dynasty prime minister and patriot Wen Tianxiang. Wen’s family was originally from Hengyang, Hunan, where his family had established itself shortly after the 10th century. Not until the time of Wen's great-grandfather, Wen Hui, a military officer, did the family move to the Suzhou area. - Wei Shuo
Wei Shuo, courtesy name Mouyi (茂猗), sobriquet He'nan (和南), commonly addressed just as Lady Wei (衛夫人), was a calligrapher of Eastern Jin, who established consequential rules about the regular script. Her famous disciple was Wang Xizhi. Born in modern Xia, Shanxi, Wei was the daughter of Wei Zhan (衛展) or the daughter or younger sister of Wei Heng (衛恆). - Wang Xianzhi
Wang Xianzhi, courtesy name Zijing (子敬), was a famous Chinese calligrapher of the Eastern Jin. He was the seventh and youngest son of the famed Wang Xizhi. Wang inherited his father's talent for the art, although his siblings were all notable calligraphers. His style is more fluid than his father's, demonstrating a response and reaction against Wang Xizhi's calligraphy. Amongst his innovations is the one-stroke cursive script, … - Bada Shanren
Bada Shanren, born as Zhu Da (朱耷), was a Chinese painter of shuimohua and a calligrapher. He was of noble lineage, being a descendant of the Ming dynasty prince Zhu Quan. A child prodigy, he began painting and writing poetry in his early childhood. About the year 1658, when the Ming emperor committed suicide and a rebel army attacked Beijing, the young man sought refuge in a Buddhist temple and became a monk. - Karlgeorg Hoefer
Karlgeorg Hoefer was a German calligrapher and typographer. Hoefer was born in Schlesisch-Drehnow, now Drzonów, in Silesia. He taught typography at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach (until 1970 Werkkunstschule). He held several calligraphy workshops for calligraphic societies in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Portland and Washington. - Reza Abbasi
Agha Reza Reza-e Abbasi (also Reza Abbasi) (1565 - 1635) was the most renowned Persian miniaturist, painter and calligrapher of the Isfahan School, which flourished during the Safavid period under the patronage of Shah Abbas I. - Shen Zhou
Shen Zhou was born into a wealthy family in Xiangcheng, near the thriving city of Suzhou, in the Jiangsu province, China. His genealogy traces his family’s wealth to the late Yuan period, but only as far as Shen’s paternal great-grandfather, Shen Liang-ch’en, who became a wealthy landowner following the dissolution of Mongol rule. After the collapse of the Yuan and the emergence of the new Ming dynasty, … - Michael Harvey
Michael Harvey is a British lettering artist whose skills include typography, calligraphy, drawing and carving. His work appears in many English cathedrals and the National Gallery, London. He designed the typefaces Andreas and Ellington. - Huai Su
Huai Su, courtesy name Cangzhen (藏真), was a Buddhist monk and calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty, famous for his cursive calligraphy. Less than 10 pieces of his works have survived. He was born in modern Changsha, Hunan. Not much is known of his early life. His secular surname might be Qian (錢), and he might be a nephew of the poet Qian Qi (錢起). He became a monk in his childhood, apparently out of poverty. - Cai Xiang
Cai Xiang (born in Xianyou, Fujian in 1012, died in Xianyou 1067) is a Chinese calligrapher, scholar, official, architectural engineer, and poet. Style name Junmuo, posthumous name Zhonghuei Born in Song dynasty Xiangfu reign (1012 AD) in Xianyiu county of Xinghua prefecture (Now Xianyiu county in Putian city of Fujian province). In Tiansheng the eighth year (1030 AD) Cai Xiang obtain the degree of jinshi. - Liu Gongquan
- Paul Renner
Paul Renner was a typeface designer, most notably of Futura. He was born in Wernigerode, Germany and died in Hödingen. He was born in Prussia and had a strict Protestant upbringing, being educated in 19th century Gymnasium. He was brought up to have a very German sense of leadership, of duty and responsibility. He was suspicious of abstract art and disliked many forms of modern culture, such as jazz, cinema, and dancing. - Timothy Botts
Timothy Botts is a noted calligrapher and illustrator. He has published several books containing calligraphic inscriptions of biblical passages. He has taught seminars at such places as Regent College and College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn Illinois. Mr. Botts is noted for the great diversity of "hands" (a technical term for different styles or fonts of calligraphy) he has mastered. - Ouyang Xun
Ouyang Xun (557-641) was a Confucian scholar and calligrapher of the early Tang Dynasty. He was born in Hunan, Changsha, to a family of government officials; and died in modern Anhui province. - Khalil Al-Zahawi
Khalil al-Zahawi (1946 - 25 May, 2007) was one of Iraq's most prominent Arabic calligraphers. An ethnic Kurd and a native of Diyala Governorate, he began studying calligraphy in 1959, and moved to Baghdad in 1963, where he gave his first exhibition in 1965. He later graduated from the Fine Arts Institute of Baghdad, and proceeded to work for the State Directorate for the Plastic Arts in the 1980s. Eventually, he found work as a lecturer at Baghdad University. - Gudrun Zapf-Von Hesse
Gudrun Zapf von Hesse (b. 1918) is a typographer, calligrapher and book-binder. She is the 1991 winner of the Fredrick W. Goudy Award. She designed several fonts for the type foundry D. Stempel AG, such as Diotima (1955). She served a book-binding apprenticeship with Otto Dorfner. Zapf von Hesse is married to Hermann Zapf. - Li Si
Li Si (ca. 280 BC - September or October 208 BC) was the influential Prime Minister (or Chancellor) of the feudal state and later of the dynasty of Qin, between 246 BC and 208 BC. A famous Legalist, he was also a notable calligrapher. Li Si served under two rulers: Qin Shi Huang, king of Qin and later First Emperor of China -- and his son, Qin Er Shi. A powerful minister, he was central to the state's policies, including those on military conquest, … - Zhang Zhi
Zhang Zhi, courtesy name Boying (伯英), was a Chinese calligrapher during the Han Dynasty. Born in Jiuquan, Gansu, he was a pioneer of the modern cursive script, and was traditionally honorred as the Sage of Curives Script (草聖). Despite the great fame he enjoyed in ancient times, no veritable works of his have survived. A catchphrase is attributed to him: "Too busy to write cursively" (匆匆不暇草書), … - Chu Suiliang
Chu Suiliang, courtesy name Dengshan (登善), formally Duke of Henan (河南公), was a chancellor of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, during the reigns of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Taizong's son Emperor Gaozong. He became increasingly trusted by Emperor Taizong toward the end of his reign and was charged with the responsibilities of serving as the imperial historian and providing honest advice. - Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg was a German goldsmith and printer, who is credited with inventing movable type printing in Europe (ca. 1450) and mechanical printing globally. His major work, the Gutenberg Bible, also known as the 42-line bible, has been acclaimed for its high aesthetic and technical quality. Among Gutenberg's specific contributions were the design of metal movable type, … - Ibn Al-Bawwab
Ibn al-Bawwab was Arabic calligrapher and illuminator who lived during the time of the Buyid dynasty. He most likely died around 1022 AD in Baghdad. One of his largest achievements was the perfection of the al-Khatt al-Mansub (literally, "the well-proportioned script") style of Islamic calligraphy. - Yu Shinan
Yu Shinan, courtesy name Boshi (伯施), was a master of calligraphy in early Tang Dynasty. He was also a paramount official, litterateur and well known confucian scholar in Emperor Taizong of Tang's era. He's regarded as one of the four greatest calligraphers in early Tang Dynasty along with Ouyang Xun, Chu Suiliang and Xue Ji (薛稷), and one of the most famous ones in Chinese calligraphy history. - Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton (born 23 May 1921), also known as 'Humph', is a well-known British jazz musician and broadcaster, and chairman of the BBC radio programme "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue". He is a cousin of the 10th Viscount Cobham and a nephew of the politician and sportsman Alfred Lyttelton, who was the first man to represent England at both football and cricket. - Cai Yong
Cai Yong, courtesy name Bojie (伯喈), was a Chinese musician, a calligrapher of the Han dynasty and author of Qin Cao (琴操). Born in modern Kaifeng, Henan, he plays the guqin and his daughter is the famous Cai Wenji. In 192, He was put to death by Wang Yun for allegedly expressing grief at Dong Zhuo's death, despite pleadings from other government officials.
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