Flower. Every one of them is different, in shape, size, color, most of them are beautiful. None of them are the same, that is what makes them beautiful. However, that is only true when they blossom, and they are short-lived, decay very fast. This virtual exhibition is about flowers from China and Europe and compares the western flower painting to Chinese flower painting around 1700-1900. There will be eight paintings from Yun Bing, Shitao (Zhu Ruoji), Zhao Zhiqian, Henri Fantin-Latour, Gustave Caillebotte, Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh. Painting from both areas is focused on flowers, but in Chinese, they have more focus on the meaning of the flowers, western painting is more focused on the beauty of the flowers.
In Chinese culture people believe peony will bring wealth because wealthy people used to wear cloth with peony, it becomes a symbol of wealth. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s flower painting collection “Flower Study” by Yun Bing in the 17th century. It is ink and watercolor on paper, the peony flower itself is uncolored and other color is less saturated when compared. The flower isn’t made with the side of a brush, instead they the flower is made with outlines, and light shading in the peony, that tells me how the peony petal is shaped and folding, stamen don’t have a lot of detail to it but it still adds to the fact the peony is growing strong, and stamen gives me a feeling of wave and life. It is like a minimalist painting, the frame is clean, only one message is been conveyed in the painting.
Another Chinese watercolor painting is “Peach Blossoms and Peony” by Zhao Zhiqian in 1860. Peach flower in Chinese means to love and spring. There are two types of flowers in two different styles of painting. One is a thick outline with ink, one is watercolor using the side of the brush. Peony lay on top of the peach. There is two focus instead of one, as usual, one is the peony with dark color, other will be peach with a bright color to drown attention, the peony is used to show the color of peach and he is focusing his attention on the peach so the peony is gray. At the same time, he creates a balance between the two and conveyed two messages at the same time. As a piece on a fan, this piece is showing wealth and love they have found.
Going from China to the west, “Chrysanthemums in the Garden at Petit” by Gustave Caillebotte in 1893. It is an impressionism painting. Compared to Chinese painting, Gustave Caillebotte’s painting has the object fill up the entire frame. His flower has many layers, there is more detail captured for flowers closer to the viewpoint. The lighting in the picture is rendered in the same way as we see in the real world, instead of being very flat like a Chinese painting. The part best is the in the stem of the flower there is a light leak through making the scene believable. He captured the beautiful colors of flowers and lighting in the garden. Also in France, people love chrysanthemums because of their color and their connection to East Asia, East Asia is highly rated in Europe.
Another western painting is the “Bouquet of Sunflower” by Claude Monet in 1881. It is a painting of a bunch of sunflowers in a vase on a table. Gustave Caillebotte has a strong brush stroke on flowers, on the other hand, Claude Monet’s brushstroke is bold and waves like. With the orange color of the background, the painting is about flowers during sunset. Every flower is different, the way they bloom, and the sunlight is affecting the color. The way he made leaves is also fascinating, his leaves are made of many small strokes in the place leaves is curled his brushstroke makes a wave-like pattern, making me think how he came up the way he is painting. He captures beautiful curve sunflowers petal with the vase with his unique brushstroke, makes it speak to the viewer how he feels when he is painting.
After looking at painting from both China and Europe, we can see Chinese painting isn’t trying to capture the life of the flower instead they are going for the meaning and what they can bring to them. European painting is about the color, the way a flower grows, and its beauty. “Chrysanthemums in the Garden at Petit” has very detailed flowers and lighting, and there is also people’s love of chrysanthemums. “Bouquet of Sunflower” have wave throughout the painting making the painting stands out from others. “Flower Study” has a detailed focus on the white peony, peony is made with a thin stroke, but still shows the depth and fold of the petal. “Peach Blossoms and Peony” uses large areas of color and ink to bring to the color. Chinese painting has a mixture of new and old, they don’t contain much depth, without the background, but that isn’t for the attention it is about to bring better luck to people. Western painting has more to do with the texture of the brush, and they capture the beauty of flowers.
