Discover the mastery of the Lingnan School of painting in China over the last 200 years.
Gao Jianfu was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. He is best known as one of the masters, together with his brother Gao Qifeng (1889-1933), of the Lingnan School which is associated with Guangdong and was noted for its modernity and assimilation of foreign painting styles. Gao Jianfu was a pupil of the influential flower and insect painter Ju Lian (1828-1904) who, with his brother Ju Chao (1811-1889), advocated painting from life and direct observation. Gao also studied painting in Japan, at Japan Fine Art Institute (Nihon bijutsu in). He was teaching, publishing, and painting at the same time. He held numerous academic posts and in 1923 he founded the Chunshui Art Studio for art education. This painting depicts a flowering branch of a kapok tree. Kapok flowers have been one of the most popular subjects among Lingnan artists because they are symbol of strength with their thick trunks and the flowering of the petals in early-Spring. In addition the red colour of kapok flowers has been widely associated with war and revolutionary China in the 20th century.
Vainker, Shelagh, Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2000), no. 27 on p. 49, illus. p. 49 fig. 27
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