Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

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Flowering branchfront, painting only

© The artist's estate

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Flowering branch

  • Description

    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.

  • Details

    show all
    Associated place
    Asia › China (place of creation)
    Date
    1934
    Artist/maker
    Gao Jianfu (1879 - 1951) (artist)
    Material and technique
    ink and colour on paper
    Dimensions
    painting 91.5 x 42.5 cm (height x width)
    along roller 64 cm (width)
    Material index
    processed material › paper
    Technique index
    decorated › painted,
    painted,
    covered › coated › painted,
    marked › painted,
    drawn (image) › line drawing › brush drawing
    Object type index
    visual representation › scroll › hanging scroll,
    communications equipment › art/writing equipment › scroll › hanging scroll,
    visual representation › painting
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Purchased, 1991.
    Accession no.
    EA1991.73

  • Further reading

    Vainker, Shelagh, Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2000), no. 27 on p. 49, illus. p. 49 fig. 27

Past Exhibition

see (1)

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford by Shelagh Vainker

    Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

    Gao Jianfu was born in Panyu district, Guangdong province. He is best known as one of the masters, together with his brother Gao Qifeng, 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 plant and insect painter Ju Lian (1828-1904) who, with his brother Ju Chao, advocated painting from life and direct observation. Gao also studied painting in Japan, at the Tokyo Institute of Fine Arts; while there he became involved in the anti-Manchu revolutionary campaign and thereafter engaged in educational and publishing work, most notably the Zhenxiang huabao (Truth Pictorial), as well as art. He held numerous academic posts and in 1923 he founded the teaching establishment Chunshui Art Studio.

© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum