Enter the rainforest: Xiao Rong's fine brushwork of flowers and birds: Xiao Rong's fine brushwork of flowers and birds

Author: Xiao Rong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-09-01
Features: Flower-and-bird painting, figure painting, and landscape painting are the major categories in Chinese painting. Within flower-and-bird painting, there are further distinctions between meticulous (gongbi) and freehand (xieyi) styles, collectively referred to as gongbi and xieyi. The Northern and Southern Song dynasties were the peak period for the development of meticulous flower-and-bird painting. From the extant works of flower-and-bird painting, it is evident that meticulous flower-and-bird painting during the Song era reached a high level of maturity in all aspects and became an independent genre in the art world, receiving great praise and admiration from later literati. Mr. Xu Beihong once remarked, "In our country, the highest praise for painting belongs to flower-and-bird painting, which is the most beautiful among all paintings." Undoubtedly, meticulous flower-and-bird painting represents the pinnacle of Song dynasty painting.