Huang Quan’s painting Birds, Insects, and Turtles Sketched from Life created during the Later Shu of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (AD903-968) and his son Huang Jucai’s Blue Magpie and Thorny Shrubs both are examples of the early realism style commonly used to decorate the interior of royal court palaces.

In the Northern Song Dynasty (1004-1088), Cui Bai set a precedent by shifting birds and flora paintings from decorative realism towards a more artistic and expressive style. Magpies and Hare, painted with the double-hook ink wash method, is one of his only remaining works. It is a dynamic display of liveliness and harmony captured through meticulous observation of nature.

During Song Huizong’s (1082-1135) time as emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, he also was considered a master of bird and flora paintings. His work placed a strong emphasis on accurate depictions and structured composition, influencing the artists training under his art academy to strive toward perfecting observational sketching. However, beyond literal representation, value was placed in an artist capturing the spirit of a subject in their own interpretation. Chinese birds and flora paintings reached its peak at this time.

In later imperial China, bird and flora paintings turned more towards freehand brush work, which valued expressing the essence of the subject, rather than the details of its appearance. The rigorous training of capturing likeness emphasized in Song Dynasty art was lost over time. 

With the development of modern technology, photography introduces a new medium to capture details like never before. Perhaps recalling the artistic focus on observation to detail from the Tang and Song dynasties can usher in a new renaissance for Chinese bird and flora paintings.

A Brief Introduction to The Bird Photographer

Born and raised near nature preserves, Justine Wang, 19, has photographed birds and other wildlife from a young age, developing an ability to recognize bird species by their birdsong. These bird photographs were taken at the shores and wetlands of New Jersey during the pandemic. The composition of some of her photographs parallels that of these famous bird and flora paintings. To seek the truth and beauty in life, one must start with observing nature and all things around us.

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