Zhou Chunya returned to China in 1989, having been influenced by Expressionism while in Germany. He devoted the following years to the learning of literati arts of traditional Chinese, and was particularly inspired by the masters Dong Qichang, Shitao, Bada Shanren, and Huang Binhong. What he found were brand new possibilities between the German Expressionism and the “sentiments of brush and ink” of Chinese literati works. Since the late 90s, he created many flower-themed pieces, paving a new road with the historical heritage of literati paintings. In this series the flowers are often suspended alone on the empty canvas, representing a call back to the concept of “negative space” from Chinese ink wash painting, which also restricts the possibility of further alteration. “Flora”is one of the fascinating works among the series.

The brushwork in “Flora” is bold and bright, showing no signs of hesitation. Green and red on the canvas seem to both clash and coalesce at the same time. In the midst of such rich color, blooming red flowers with elegant leaves and stems shine through, displaying Zhou’s superb ability to form his subjects. Yet realistic depictions are not what the artist is truly concerned with. “Flora” clearly conveys what Zhou had learned from Chinese literati traditions: the ethos of “imbuing a scene with feeling.” While Zhou inherited this ethos, his art takes a direction which is opposite to the modesty and grace of the elder generation; he gazes directly into the wishes and desires of humanity. The rich layering of color and the texture of its surface, as well as the high contrast of density in the spacing, enliven the once passive flower into a burgeoning vitality. The painting maintains the flower’s gentle charms, while allowing sudden glimpses of raging tension, mixing gentleness and nobility with passion and impetuosity.While the depiction of a lily in full bloom encompass qualities of a delicate softness frequently found in the classical ink tradition, the nostalgic composition of the brushstrokes adds dimension to the painting. The artist have succeeded in capturing the essence of a lily in full bloom, in line with a saying often utilized to describe the works of Bada Shanren, which posits, “there is not a missed line, nor the requirement of an extra brush stroke to bring out the beauty of the subject matter.” The nostalgic airy brushstrokes of the flowering blossom becomes the focal point against the white backdrop that offers a delimitation of space, this attribute adheres to a theory in the Chinese ink and wash paintings tradition that predicates upon the notion where the void “is not devoid of sense”, as declares a poem from the poet and painter Ma Desheng the early eighties. The timeless beauty of a lily in full bloom is reminiscence of tradition while the simplified, more vigorous brushstrokes used to render the stem and leafy sprigs issuing the nostalgic flowering lily dances harmoniously upon the canvas.