Day-Lily from a Flower Album of Ten Leaves 1656
xiangshengmo
minneapolisinstituteofart
ink, color-on-paper
water colours
leaf
culinary art
ink
color-on-paper
food illustration
botanical photography
botanical drawing
china
food art
watercolour bleed
watercolour illustration
botanical art
watercolor
"Day-Lily from a Flower Album of Ten Leaves" is a delicate and precise ink and color painting on paper by Xiang Shengmo, created in 1656. The artwork depicts a single day-lily flower in bloom, rendered in a light wash of color, with graceful lines and delicate details. The flower stands tall against a pale background, its petals delicately painted in shades of orange and yellow, a testament to Shengmo's skill in capturing the beauty of nature. The work is characteristic of the artist's style, emphasizing the subtle beauty of natural forms and the expressive power of ink and brush. The Chinese inscription on the right is a poem about the day-lily. This work is currently located at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
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Xiang Shengmo was born into one of the most prestigious families in Jiaxing, a city in northeastern China. When the Manchu invasion reached Jiaxing, in 1645, many of Xiang’s friends and relatives died in a vain attempt to save their city. His homestead was destroyed and his family’s art collections lost. Following this upheaval, Xiang’s painting changed from an amateur, literati pursuit, becoming a source of income. Xiang was at the height of his technical and expressive powers when he created this album, featuring a wide range of flowers including wintersweet, cockscomb, apricot, pear, daylily, and cassia. He worked here in pure color without ink outlines and in shaded brushstrokes, which give the impression of three-dimensional modeling.
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