Birds on Red Plum
Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 1892
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and colors on paper
Dimensions
187.3 × 97.5 cm (73 3/4 × 38 3/8 in.)
Classification
hanging scroll
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
46466
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Ren Yi was among the most successful and influential among Chinese painters of the so-called Shanghai School. Arriving in Shanghai in 1857, he took the artistic name “bonian” (one-hundred years), claiming that it would take him a century to achieve success. However, by 1875 Ren Yi was the best-known painter in Shanghai. His highly sought-after bird-and-flower paintings initially followed the Song dynasty (960–1279) convention of applying rich color fields within outlines, producing decorative pa...