All posts by Angela Reich

Spring Bouquet

Covered jar decorated with blossoming plum and cracked ice, Porcelain painted in underglaze cobalt blue (Jingdezhen ware), China
Covered jar decorated with blossoming plum and cracked ice, Metropolitan Museum

Pat J shared this modern poem on Plum Blossom.

Chinese poem about Plum Blossom.

Following up on Jing’s article, more by Wang Yishi, and a downloadable catalogue.  Click through the pages here to get a good idea of his impasto in oils.

Nature symbolism in Chinese Art.

Iris were very popular with Japanese painters, particularly gorgeous screens.

Some Song, Yuan and Ming flower and other paintings in the Bi Gong Yuan album described by Professor Janes Cahill (skip to minute 15.30 if you are less interested in his career and books).

Member Sylvia Radius has created cherry blossom (Sakura) and orchids on ceramics: “it was very unusual to paint with a bamboo pencil  on a convex shape or a hollow shape. But very nice to practice.  My friend Cecilia Vervoort made the ceramics.”

Plum blossoms, Jin Nong (Chinese, 1687–1773), Album of twelve leaves; ink on paper, China
Plum Blossoms by Jing Nong, Met Museum

Some blossoms to anticipate spring:

Why not relax with a nice cup of tea from member Ann M.

Spring comes to Emperor Qianlong’s capital

 

 

 

Artists United

Qu Leilei and his drawings in British Museum.

Qu Leilei is one of CBP’s  Honorary Presidents.
We were delighted that he and his wife, artist Caroline Deane, ran our AGM 2022 workshop.
Here is an interview with them both, and another with Leilei (Chinese with subtitles).

The British Museum has an extensive Chinese collection, and has recently added to its main Chinese Civilisation display with modern and contemporary works including drawings done by Leilei during the Cultural revolution:  Wind was  pasted on Democracy Wall, and appeared in the Stars outdoor exhibition; Worry was a response to the Tangshan earthquake.   Leilei was a founder member of the Stars Art Group and the BM collection includes this photo of them at their outdoor display.

Worry (c) Qu Leilei 1976

Leilei has two more works in the British Museum collection: Journey and Lei Feng.

Leilei’s latest project uses large-scale calligraphy to express his concern about misinformation and its threat to debate and questioning.

Doing it differently

Section of Qingming scroll

The  famous Qing Dynasty handscroll “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” is more than 11 metres long, with over 4000 tiny figures and animals.  You might think that could not be equalled, but a team of Chinese stonecutters is determined to recreate it in decorative rock!  You can see their version of the section above in this video.

The Classic of Mountains & Seas is an a collection of myths and stories assembled in the Han Dynasty, featuring figures such as  Yu the Great and the Queen Mother of the West.  Here is a 5-minute version, plus an animation of some of the strange creatures.  And there is a modern satirical version!

CBPS Member Anne A pointed to these Fine Chinese Modern and Contemporary Ink Paintings.

CBPS member Peng has found several interesting contemporary artists:

  • “Tattoo artist Yuki Zerkjad based in London. I love her reinterpretation of Zhao Shao’ang’s work.”
  • “I met Nikole Lowe a couple years ago in London. She is very versatile in painting styles blending traditions from various art schools with her own distinctive touch on colour. She is among my favorite Lingnan school artists alongside Desmond Chung.”   She is also a tattoo artist [warning: nudity]  and creates spectacular wallpaper.
  • “A very talented artist Fan Zhibin (范治斌). He repeatedly features on top of the recommended CBP videos on TikTok. It feels very difficult to hold the brush that low while maintaining sense of flow and freedom like he does.  His use of flat brush technique reminds me of some landscape artists in the 90s”.
  • “A young artist and art lecturer Wei Zhijie (韦智杰). His brushwork and understanding of traditional culture are just incredible. Famous for peonies.”
Wei Zhijie Ink Blue & White Lotus

Go large! Tong Yang-tze’s calligraphy.

Scholar rocks with twistMoving Lines Inky landscapes.

 

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Blue and White

Ming Porcelain, British Museum

To complement your April newsletter, British Museum Curator’s Corner –  An introduction to Ming blue and white porcelain.  Some good close-ups of the designs.

If you want to splash out on your own moon vase!

Member Zara: American expert giving layman talks on ceramics.   He uses the Museum virtual tour which is very high quality, picks items to expand on with superb images and he talks about them. Takes you through most of the main ceramic wares at the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, including blue-and-white at minute 25.

Things you may not know about blue and white porcelain.

You can overdose on blue-and-white Chinese porcelain at the Dresden Porcelain Collection.

Qing Dragon Vases, Dresden

Peach Blossom Spring

Tani Buncho, Earthly Paradise of Wuling, a handscroll painting. British Museum

The tale of the Peach Blossom Spring is often painted.  There are three handscrolls of the story in the British Museum: Shen Zhou, Shibata Gito after Go Shun, blue-green landscape byTani Buncho after Qiu Ying.

Here is a walk through a handscroll from the Wou Lien-Pai Museum of Chinese Art, courtesy of Roderick Whitfield: Peach Blossom Spring.ppt

Some of you might remember Xu Bing’s installation at the V&A in 2013: Travelling to the Wonderland was inspired by the Peach Blossom Spring.

Wou Lien-Pai Museum 2011
ed R Whitfield, OMpublishingHK
Xu Bing village (c) A Reich