| Description | Flowers and Bamboo
Xu Wei (style name Wenchang; sobriquet Qingteng laoren) was exceptionally talented in the arts. According to his own ranking, he considered his calligraphy best, poetry second, writing third, and painting fourth. In his flower paintings, his brush force was unbridled and wet. He came to be known together with Chen Chun as "Qingteng and Baiyang" and had a major influence in painting circles after the late Ming.
This work was done at the request of a friend and depicts a total of sixteen plants and flowers from different times of the year altogether in this monumental hanging scroll. They include the plum blossom, orchid, chrysanthemum, bamboo, plantain, peony, narcissus, lotus, begonia, camellia, hibiscus, hollyhock, pomegranate, day lily, hydrangea, and plantain lily. The painting methods combine ink outlines and "boneless" washes of "sketching ideas,"the brush and ink dancing about unbridled and to the artist's content. To the left is Xu Wei's inscription of a miscellaneous tune entitled "Dance of Sixteen Flowers." The painting and calligraphy reflect each other perfectly, making this a rare monumental masterpiece among Xu's surviving paintings in the expressive "sketching ideas" manner. |
