the last gentleman painter of the great Korean Chosŏn (Yi) dynasty (1392–1910).

As a promising young painter, An Chung-shik was sent to China for training by the Korean court. Upon his return he became a master of the popular Southern style, with its emphasis on fingertip technique. He was also a noted calligrapher who mastered all the writing styles. Interested in new trends, especially those from the West, he experimented with ideas of perspective and depth, grafting them to the traditional style. His work furnished the starting point for many younger painters. Toward the end of his life he was the central figure in the establishment (1918) of the Sohwa Hyobhoi (“Association of Painters and Calligraphers”).