Chinese flower and bird painting
2 min readChinese Flower-and-bird Painting
Chinese flower-and-bird Painting(see Figure 87) was already in the bud in the primitive society. Patterns of flowers and birds on pottery, bronze vessels and phoenix paintings on silk during the Warring States Period(7th-4th centuries BC), were the early indications of the Chinese’s people interest in such themes. And they took shape in the Han Dynasty.
The Five Dynasty Period was a crucial era in the shaping of this style as one of the three major trends in Chinese traditional painting together with Landscape Painting and Figure Painting.
Huang Quan of the Five Dynasties was famous for his refined and coloured paintings of exotic birds and rare flowers, which was known as the Rich and Noble Huang Style. And Xu Xi, Huang Quan’s contempary, was famous for his ink-and-wash paintings of riverside bamboos and water birds and fishes, which was known as the Wild and Easy Xu Style. Huang Quan’s son Huang Jucai helped establish the classical flowerand-bird painting of the Huang family as the standard style.
The tradition of flower-and-bird-Painting evolved into two main trends，namely the Gong Bi tradition where artists focused on small details，careful application of color and meticulous technique，giving their art a realistic and ornamental feeling.This tradition evolved through the influence of the Huang family mentioned above，while the other trend of Xie Yi which was more expressionistic and impulsive，stemmed from Xu Xi.
Flower-and-bird painting includes flowers，fruits，birds，animals，insects，fish and so on.Among them，flowers，rocks and birds are usually the main subject of this kind of paintings.
