Prosperous Flowers
Huang Yongyu
1973
- YEAR:1973
- MEDIUM:Oil on canvas
- DIMENSIONS:90 × 70 cm
Introduction
Huang Yongyu, a Fellow of the China National Academy of Painting, was a legendary artist renowned for his diverse range of creative mediums and a style both witty and free-spirited. From 1972 to 1973, Huang was invited, together with Yuan Yunfu, Wu Guanzhong, and Zhu Danian, to collaborate on the mural Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River for the Beijing Hotel, for which they traveled to the Yangtze River Basin to sketch the landscape. Huang painted Prosperous Flowers during this time. He uses oil on canvas to emulate the ink-outline technique (baimiao) of traditional Chinese painting, combining washes of color with linear drawing, composed with a refined sense of balance and elegance. The arrangement follows the tradition of “Qinggong” still life paintings, placing peonies, lilies, chrysanthemums, and thistles in a rust-stained antique vessel. With flowing lines and poetic, refined colours, the painting reflects Huang’s deep contemplation of nature and his keen insight into life.
