Red flower
2006
Medium
ink and colour on paper
Measurements
68.9 × 68.6 cm (image)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Jason Yeap OAM through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2015
© the artist
Gallery location
Not on display
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
China
Inscription
inscribed in ink (in Chinese characters) c.l.:
stamped in red ink (in Chinese characters) c.l.:
stamped in red ink (in Chinese characters) c.l.:
inscribed in ink (in Chinese characters) c.r.:
stamped in red ink (in Chinese characters) l.r.:
Accession Number
2015.529
Department
Asian Art
Physical description
The red flower in the painting is called jiguan hua 雞冠花 in Chinese meaning the `crown of a rooster or cockscomb’. It is grown in southern China and has not been painted in traditional Chinese painting before. Like the Sunflower 2006 also by Chen Yongqiang, the cockscomb shows the influence of Western watercolour combined with spontaneous Chinese calligraphic brushstrokes. The painting is intense, passionate, rich and tactile in texture, wet and furry, characteristics of the Lingnan (South of the Mountain Range) school of semi-tropical Guangdong province, southern China.