Gao Kegong was a Uyghur artist during the Yuan dynasty who was a close friend of Zhao Mengfu and was ranked second great master after Zhao Mengfu. However, his Uyghur identity and paintings were rarely connected. There is also little research concerning how his Uyghur identity was presented in his paintings. I argue that Gao Kegong’s Uyghur identity should not be avoided and underrepresented. On the contrary, it reflects why Gao Kegong was a unique painter compared with his literati painter friends and other artists of his era. This research examines several of Gao Kegong’ s paintings from the viewpoints of his political experiences, literati circles, family history background, poems and Uyghur friends.
WORKS OF ART CITED
