Reed Pond and Egret by Lin Fengmian

Ink and color on paper
64.2x65cm
Shanghai Academy of Chinese Painting

If Lin Fengmian used more light and color - the languages of western painting - in his landscapes, he resorted to Chinese painting idioms when depicting birds. He wasn't painting with brush and ink per se, but with the non-permeable fluent lines and ink spots more widely used in ceramics. His colors were simple, and between black, white and grey, he mostly used grey. This picture shows an egret looking for food -it has just landed and has yet to fold its wings, but it charges impatiently towards the swimming fish. There are no pauses in the lines; rather they are rounded, smooth and long, beautiful and precise. This is appropriate - Lin Fengmian painted a Chinese painting modified by his own characteristics.