Mist upon the lotus pond

The inscription on the colophon above the painting reads: ‘To reach as far as one can ('zhiyuan'); brushed in the autumn of the year of 'jiazi' (1984) by Chuanxi’. There are three seals: ‘cunzhi' (preserving one’s natural disposition); ‘fengchi' (phoenix sidestep - meaning: palatial sidestep), and his name.

The inscription on the painting reads: ‘Mist upon the lotus pond. Painted by Chuanxi in the late autumn of the year 'jiazi' (1984) using splash-ink-and-colour technique.’ It is followed by three seals: ‘shenzhouzi' (son of the Divine Land); ‘gezhong zhenqu' (there is true pleasure in it), and the artist’s name ‘Chuanxi’.

Shu Chuanxi is a native of Nanjing, China. He studied fine art at the Suzhou Academy of Arts in 1952 and graduated from the Huadong Academy of Arts in 1955. He then went overseas and studied at the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig, Germany, and graduated in 1961. He has been a Professor at the Zhejiang Academy of Arts (now China Academy of Arts) since the 1960s, until his retirement in the 1980s. He is an established artist and educator, mastering in ink painting and print making.

In this painting, Shu painted the lotus in the 'mogu' (boneless) style or even splash-ink-and-colour technique. Haphazard splurges of ink often account for a large portion of the painting and captures the viewer's breath. The tension is released by a wave-like rhythm as he balances volume with the need for empty space.

Asian Art Department, AGNSW, October 2008.