6 Zhao Zhiqian
Flowers
1859
album of twelve leaves, ink and color on paper
each leaf 22.4 x 31.5 cm
Shanghai Museum
Zhao Zhiqian, known for incorporating the design elements he perceived in
ancient inscriptional carvings into painting, is generally considered the
originator of the epigraphic trend in Shanghai school art. A brilliant calligrapher
and seal carver, as well as a painter, he made particularly effective use
of the abstract relationships between blank ground and textured surfaces
in his flower paintings. Equally striking is the novelty of his color, which
is brighter than that of much earlier painting, and forms unexpected contrasts.