Ren Renfa, 1254 – 1327
Ren Renfa's 3 Most Famous Paintings
Three Horses and Four Grooms (1318) is the painting Ren Renfa is best remembered for; it belongs to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Leading Horses out of Stable and A Fat and a Thin Horse complete the trio of best-loved canvases. Our catalogue counts 3 works by Ren Renfa. Here are the 3 most famous, with the year, the museum and the story of each canvas.
Ranked by our popularity score, which combines the searches, visits and orders for each work. Updated October 2026. Each painting on this page can be ordered as an oil reproduction painted by hand on linen canvas, or as a fine art print, made to the size you choose.
- Born · died
- 1254 – 1327, China
- Works in our catalogue
- 3
- Most famous
- Three Horses and Four Grooms (1318)
- Most works at
- The Palace Museum
The ten best-loved paintings by Ren Renfa
Where Ren Renfa's canvases hang
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 Museum of Art |
Cleveland | 1 | Three Horses and Four Grooms |
Ren Renfa's most famous canvases, one year after another
The dated canvases of Ren Renfa on this page all belong to 1318: here they are, in order of fame.
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1318
1 of 3Three Horses and Four Grooms
Ren Renfa's canvases, question by question
Which canvas is Ren Renfa most remembered for?Read the answer
Three Horses and Four Grooms (1318), Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Leading Horses out of Stable and A Fat and a Thin Horse follow.
Three Horses and Four Grooms: how old was Ren Renfa when it was painted?Read the answer
Ren Renfa, born in 1254, was 64 years old: Three Horses and Four Grooms dates from 1318.
How many paintings did Ren Renfa create?Read the answer
3 works by Ren Renfa are in our catalogue.
Where do Ren Renfa's most famous canvases hang today?Read the answer
Mostly in The Palace Museum (Beijing) and Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland); the list above names each museum and its canvases.
Which paintings by Ren Renfa are held by the The Palace Museum?Read the answer
The The Palace Museum, Beijing holds 2 of the works on this page, among them Leading Horses out of Stable and A Fat and a Thin Horse.
Where can I buy a reproduction of a Ren Renfa painting?Read the answer
Yes. Every painting on this page can be ordered from its own page as an oil reproduction painted by hand, or as a fine art print, in the size you choose.
Meet the painter: 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.