“Sketch of Apricot Flowers”

This is a particularly significant work in the Northern Song period, when color paintings of flowers became popular. Although the painting was not signed, the Ming painter Dong Qichang (1555-1637) concluded that it was a work by Zhao Chang. This claim is still disputed by some in academic research.

All the flower paintings by Zhao Chang were products of his persistent sketching from life. He often walked around his flower beds in early morning to observe the colors and mix his pigments accordingly. This assiduous study enabled him to better capture the beauty of flowers.

He styled himself the “Sketching Zhao Chang”. The painting “Sketch of Apricot Flowers” shows a flower-studded apricot branch. The petals are more deeply colored around the edge to express the concavity of the petal. The dozens of flowers are ingeniously arranged in a variety of orientations, depths, densities and sizes.

Editor: Wen Yi