Chinese Sumi Art Brush Painting - Old Man Having Tea with Young Boy - Watercolor Ink on Rice Paper

At 3 feet tall and over 5 feet in overall length, this is one of our most impactful as well as beautiful paintings. The title in Chinese is: Tea Tasting Picture. Thematically it is about finding peace and harmony with an emphasis on the physical and mental health of drinking tea. The detailing and fine brush strokes set it apart as a masterwork of contemporary Chinese watercolor art. The contrasting of dark heavy brush strokes with stark unpainted paper is a classic technique of traditional Chinese ink painting that is utilized wonderfully here to set the scene of rock and earth against a backdrop of mist and thick vegetation. The Taoist mainstays of earth fading into sky, living things vs. objects and water carving through rock are all at work in this original painting, defining the important pillars of Yin and Yang. While at the same time there is a contrast of young and old. Each character in the painting holds a fan, which is an auspicious symbol of longevity. Han Zhongli, from the folkloric Eight Immortals, is always depicted carrying a fan, symbolizing his ability to revive the dead. The fan in Chinese art is also a linguistic pun, typically symbolizing virtue or goodness. The bamboo painted around the edges is another symbolically important motif, representing both integrity and longevity. This fine painting is a one-of-a-kind original, painted in 2004 and acquired for our collection in Guangzhou China. ...Read more

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