Shen Zhou was a native of Changzhou, present-day Suzhou in Jiangsu Province. His zi,a style or name taken at the age of twenty, was Qinan and his hao, an assumed or alternative name, Baishiweng, Shitian. Shen came from a prominent literary family and received a classical literary education. He never entered government service but devoted himself to the arts of poetry, calligraphy and painting. He studied the art of Dong Yuan, Juran and the four Yuan Masters. Considered to be the leader of the 'Four Masters of the Wu School', he was an accomplished painter of landscapes, figures, birds and flowers. His personal style evolved from masterly skill in his middle period to vigorous simplicity and a powerful expression in his later years. He exerted tremendous influence on artists of later generations.