BAMBOO IN SNOW
This pattern depicts details from HKMoA’s priceless ink-wash art painting “Bamboo In Snow” by world-revered Chinese master artist Gao Jianfu.
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Gao Jianfu was one of the founders of the Lingnan School. He studied in Japan and was influenced by Japanese and Western painting styles and techniques, advocating a blend of East and West and a fusion of the ancient and the modern to promote innovation in Chinese painting. The painting “Bamboo In Snow” depicts bamboo in winter simply with ink, its leaves covered in snow but standing tall in the cold wind, the background rendered in light indigo, showing the Japanese painting's extensive rendering of the scene to create a mood. The artist uses light ink for the trunk of the bamboo, and thick ink for the branches and leaves to create a strong contrast. The brushstrokes are used freely and with a sense of ease, interspersed with dry strokes that highlight the boundless and upright nature of the snowy bamboo. The Chinese literati have always been fond of bamboo for its straight, hollow and knotty qualities, as a metaphor for its unyielding spirit, aloof and noble temperament, bamboo is therefore known as Junzi (gentleman君子). Gao Jianfu's painting of snowy bamboo defies the frost and snow, and is accompanied by the seal “A man is old before he becomes famous”, which conveys his personal sentiments and self-motivation in the painting.
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Painting: “Bamboo In Snow” by Gao Jianfu (高風亮節)(高劍父)
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*This collection is collaborated by the Hong Kong Museum of Art and SPARKLE COLLECTION.
