A Flower and Bird Chinese scroll painting, this piece pairs classical brushwork with a subject that never gets old. The bird is what catches you first; the rest of the scroll arranges itself quietly around it. What makes it work are the particulars: oriole, pink blossoms and calligraphy, painted with a light, sure touch.
As a colorful gongbi bird-and-blossom work, it keeps company with older pieces without imitating them. People who collect this genre will read the meaning at once — in China the written word outranks all other arts — a good hand was the scholar's calling card. Color stays pale pinks and lively, varied color — enough to lift the ink, never enough to shout. Spring runs through the whole piece: tender new growth, birds returning, branches in blossom. The upright scroll format fits the scene — read from top to bottom, as the painter meant.
A flower-and-bird piece like this lends any room a settled, scholarly calm. Know someone fond of Chinese brush painting? This is a housewarming gift with real thought behind it.
