Bamboo

Date1955

Label TextBamboo, along with orchid and plum, are favorite subjects for scholar-artists in Chinese painting. Having botanically simple forms, these plants can be pictorialized with a scholar’s existing skills in writing calligraphy, using brush and plain black ink. Wu Zaiyan doesn’t use a brush; he was a specialist in finger painting. He dipped different parts of his hand and fingers into ink and water and applied it on paper to render jagged leaves and the delicate movement of the insect’s feelers. A native of Nan’an in Fujian province, Wu spent his childhood in Indonesia and Singapore. He taught at the Nanyang Academy in Singapore.

Object number55.166

ProvenanceArtist

Photo CreditPhoto: Elizabeth Mann

Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection

DimensionsOverall: 17 1/4 x 26 1/4 in. (43.8 x 66.7cm)

MediumInk on paper