The Vitality of Things Observed

The methods of expressing "birds and flowers" in Chinese art are quite rich and varied. Painters, for example, not only imitated famous works of their contemporaries and the ancients, they also delved into observing the details of nature. Gaining more knowledge of the forms and features of flowers and the behavior and movement of birds, artists were able to capture them all with precise brushwork. After outlining the forms and giving them color, painters imbued their marvelous world of birds and flowers with life. This idea of "sketching from life" is also found in the arts of tapestry and embroidery as well. In this section of the exhibit, the doves in three works are depicted moving or still with great fidelity to nature. The accompanying leaves range from light to dark as petals extend back and forth in space as well. Various aspects of flowers and leaves, such as their veins, are all rendered with exquisite precision and true to life. These small works, which artists imbued with a seemingly unlimited sense of vitality, serve as representative examples of "Using form to render spirit, both are complete."

These three works depict doves in a variety of situations, such as perched or in flight. In the painting, for example, the brushwork is strong and upright in this depiction of a rustic scene following a frost. The doves appear with brambles and bamboo, their nature and actions true to life.

The embroidery here depicts an old plum tree with verdant bamboo. Three doves are shown gazing about this refined textile. In Shen Zifan's tapestry, the composition and color selection is similar to those of the embroidery. Carefully done and realistically faithful to the forms, it is a representative example of "observing the life of things."