Chinese Painting AIC September 2014

 Chen Daofu, (1483-1544), Flowering Lotus, 1543

It looks like lotus will be the theme of  the September installation in the alcove of Chinese painting - but so far only two pieces have been installed.  The museum showed another painting by this artist last winter.

My friend, John Putnam, has own lotus pond that recently came under attack by a local raccoon.

But these lotus are better protected -and I could look at them all day

It's a subject matter  that seems to offer the opportunity to express hilarity.

 

Li Huasheng (b. 1944), "Ten Thousand Acres of Lotus", 1991

This contemporary piece also feels hilarious - as hilarious as a small child's birthday party.

An artist of the Peoples Republic,  Li seems to looking at contemporary ABX artists like Cy Twombly as much as he's followed traditional Chinese brush painting.

Li Huasheng, 2001 (not on view)

In the 1990's, he stopped painting recognizable imagery, and began compulsively putting marks on the paper.

Hopefully, he'll eventually find this kind of work as tedious as I do, and will return to a more lyrical practice.

 

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.Returning two weeks later, I discovered that only one additional painting had been added - while half the cases are still filled with the botanicals that were put on exhibit last Spring.

Qing Dynasty, Bamboo and Rocks

This piece was impossible to photograph - and it's not yet listed in the online catalog. (1988.173)