Praying Mantis on Plantain Leaf

Title

Creator

Xu Beihong and Zhao Shao'ang

Year/Period

Dated 1941

Region

China

Object Type

Chinese ink paintings, ink wash paintings

Material

Chinese ink, colour (pigment), paper (fiber product)

Technique

painting (image-making), papermaking

Dimension

Image size: L:96 cm x W:55.5 cm,
Image size: L:227 cm x W:71 cm

Accession No.

2000-07894

Collection of

Asian Civilisations Museum

Credit Line

From the Xiang Xue Zhuang Collection in memory of Dr Tan Tsze Chor

NLB Type

Painting

Combining Xu Beihong's near-abstract rendition of plantain leaves and a delicate praying mantis by Zhao Shao'ang, this work conveys an idealised representation of nature. Xu Beihong can be said to be the first Chinese artist to have successfully integrated Chinese painting and Western academic realism. Here, Xu achieves his aim of accurately portraying nature by adhering to the principles of Western realism while combining with the Chinese medium.Known for painting birds and flowers, Zhao's brushwork was inspired by the lyricism of the famous flower painters, Ju Lian (1828-1904) and Yun Shouping (1633-1690).