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Ren Renfa: Catalogue of the 3 Most Famous Paintings
Updated Ekim 2026 · ranked by our popularity score (searches, visits and orders for each work) · 3 works by Ren Renfa in our catalogue
Özet
Three Horses and Four Grooms (1318) is recorded as the most famous painting of Ren Renfa; it is held by the Cleveland Sanat Müzesi, Cleveland. Leading Horses out of Stable and A Fat and a Thin Horse occupy the second and third entries. Of the 3 works by Ren Renfa recorded in the catalogue, the 3 best known are listed below, each entry with its date, the holding museum and a note on the work.
1254 – 1327, China
Most works: The Palace Museum
Entries 1 to 10: the most famous Ren Renfa paintings
Ren Renfa: holding museums
The 2 museums that hold the most of the paintings on this page.
| Museum | City | Works by Ren Renfa | Paintings from this list |
|---|---|---|---|
 The Palace Museum |
Beijing | 2 | Leading Horses out of Stable, A Fat and a Thin Horse |
 Cleveland Sanat Müzesi |
Cleveland | 1 | Three Horses and Four Grooms |
Year index: the principal Ren Renfa paintings
Every dated Ren Renfa entry on this page bears the date 1318; the works are listed by rank.
Works per year
Select a year to display its principal paintings.
Questions frequently consulted on Ren Renfa's paintings
What is the best-known work of Ren Renfa?Display the answer
Three Horses and Four Grooms (1318), Cleveland Sanat Müzesi, Cleveland. The following entries are Leading Horses out of Stable and A Fat and a Thin Horse.
How old was Ren Renfa in the year of Three Horses and Four Grooms?Display the answer
64 years: Ren Renfa was born in 1254 and Three Horses and Four Grooms is dated 1318.
How many works by Ren Renfa does the catalogue record?Display the answer
The catalogue records 3 works by Ren Renfa.
Where are the principal works of Ren Renfa held?Display the answer
Principally in The Palace Museum (Beijing) and Cleveland Sanat Müzesi (Cleveland). The museum table above gives the full distribution.
Which paintings by Ren Renfa does the The Palace Museum hold?Display the answer
Leading Horses out of Stable and A Fat and a Thin Horse are among the 2 works on this page in the collection of the The Palace Museum, Beijing.
Can reproductions of Ren Renfa's works be ordered?Display the answer
Yes. Each work listed on this page can be ordered from its own entry as a hand-painted oil reproduction or a fine art print, in a size of your choice.
Biography of Ren Renfa
Ren Renfa: Artist and Official
Ren Renfa was an expert of irrigation works, artist, and a government official of the Yuan dynasty. Born in Qinglong Town, Songjiang, he also served as a hydrological engineer, where his work included dredging an area in what is now Beijing to improve the water supply and leading a team to build embankments after the Yellow River burst its banks.
Notable Works
His paintings include subjects such as horses, people, flowers, and birds. One prominent work is Chu Yu Tu (Coming out of the Stable), a painting on silk with color that depicts three officials of the royal stables leading four horses out of a stable. The figures in this work are dressed in Tang style costumes.
Another significant work is Five Drunken Princes Returning on Horseback, a two-metre scroll depicting five princes on horseback with four attendants. This piece includes Li Longji, who later became the Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty. Ren Renfa also produced the work Fat and Lean Horses, which contains an inscription explaining that the fat horse represents the self-satisfied, wealthy official while the lean one represents the humble, poor, self-deprecating official.