The reading letter plantain leaves theme, long loved by Chinese painters, gets a fine airing in this beauty scroll painting. The brush moves at an unhurried pace, and the picture shows it. Among pieces of classical chinese brush painting, this is the quiet kind: balanced, calm, and easy to live with.
The plantain leaves motif is worked into the composition with classical restraint. Painted with an easy, practiced brush, the standing feels observed rather than invented. Against the silk ground, the balustrade reads clearly at any distance. The green robe appears as a small pleasure of the composition, easily missed and worth finding. The flowing ribbons settles naturally into the scene, balanced against the larger forms. Rocks emerge from the mist like the backs of great animals. With the reading letter, the scene gains a lived-in quality that rewards slow looking.
It keeps good company with the finest feng shui home decor, the kind that rewards daily looking. Hang it, live with it, and watch it grow on you month by month. One hook and it is up; the scroll hangs straight from day one.
