Pink Plum Blossoms & Green Branches - a three-folded screen 1963

Editor: We are looking at "Pink Plum Blossoms & Green Branches - a three-folded screen" by Sanyu, painted in 1963 with oil on canvas. The color palette is very limited, mostly dark shades of brown, and the tree branches create sharp angles that break the atmospheric color washes. How would you approach understanding a painting like this one? Curator: The initial observation leads us to examine how the formal elements constitute its expressive language. We see immediately a high degree of simplification in the composition, with branches depicted in an almost calligraphic style. Editor: Right, I also noticed how the blossoms are rendered with a subtle touch of pink and white. I was wondering if that's important? Curator: Indeed. The restrained color palette enhances the impact of these subtle color punctuations, drawing the eye to these delicate details within a stark framework. The thick white stripe across the center is an arresting interruption in the image. We need to unpack it as an aesthetic solution. It isn't simply illustrative. Editor: How do you mean? Curator: It isn't just depicting 'snow', per se, as much as setting up the chromatic stage for Sanyu's interplay between stark verticals and horizontal interruption. How does this departure from purely mimetic representation affect our experience? Is it purely decorative, or is there a dialogue between these shapes and planes? Editor: So, you're suggesting it's more about the relationship between the shapes and the overall structure than a specific landscape? Curator: Precisely. It compels us to analyze how shape and color generate meaning. These are forms communicating rather than signs designating something external. Editor: I never considered it that way. Thank you for clarifying. It gave me a fresh understanding. Curator: It is a productive thing when an artwork invites closer inspection of these inner mechanics.