Spring Plum Blossoms 1977

Huang Yongyu made this painting of Spring Plum Blossoms, probably with ink and colour on paper. The approach is really about the gesture, the movement of the brush – you can almost feel the artist’s hand as they flick the ink across the surface. Look at the branches, how they’re built up with these broad, dark strokes, almost like calligraphy, and then punctuated by these vibrant red blossoms, little explosions of colour. It's the kind of painting that embraces the unexpected, the accidental drip or splatter. There’s a real sense of immediacy, like the painting was made in one breath. That energy reminds me a little of Cy Twombly, though with a totally different cultural inflection. Both artists share a love of the spontaneous mark, the beauty of imperfection. For me, this piece is a reminder that art is a conversation, an ongoing exchange of ideas and ways of seeing.