Plum Blossoms 1922

This hanging scroll shows plum blossoms painted by Kuang Xü, sometime before 1909. Imagine him dabbing the ink, trying to capture the delicacy of those first spring blooms. The stark white branches leap out against the red ground, kinda like a photographic negative. I wonder what he was thinking as he painted? Maybe it was about patience and resilience. You know, how the plum blossoms can bloom even in the cold of winter. I feel that tension in the brushstrokes, light and quick, but also deliberate. It reminds me of other artists who use a limited palette to great effect—like, Agnes Martin with her subtle grids. There's a real conversation happening across time, ideas echoing in the way we see and make things. Each painter sort of picks up where another leaves off, adding their own flavor. And that's how art keeps on surprising us, right?