Peach Blossoms
Ni Yide
1960s
- YEAR:1960s
- MEDIUM:Oil on canvas
- DIMENSIONS:54 × 65 cm
Introduction
Ni Yide was the founder of China’s first modern art group, the “Storm & Stress Society” (Juelan Society). He returned to China after he finished his study in Japan in 1928, since then he devoted himself to art education and conducted in-depth research into art theory and painting techniques. Peach Blossoms is one of his late works and it vividly combines the artistic purity that he advocated with the nationalization of oil painting. The buildings in the painting are composed of large, refined color blocks and bold lines. The brightly blooming peach blossoms in the foreground contrast sharply with the trees in the middle and distant background, creating a dynamic interplay with the solid and void of the architecture. This does not only reflect the influences of Paul Cézanne, Cubism, and Fauvism, but it also conveys a sense of spatial interest akin to Chinese traditional Jiehua (boundary painting). Using the peach blossom as a metaphor layered with garden imagery, Ni Yide creates a “Peach Blossom Spring” that is both aesthetically pleasing in form and rich in spiritual ideal.
