The Sinking Blue and White Scheme 沉没的青花

Creator(s)

Lei XU 徐累

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Date

1994

Format

Photograph

Description

The artist utilized “gongbi”, a type of meticulous brushwork and a representational method with fine brushwork and close attention to details (Zhou Yan, “Chinese Glossary”, “A History of Contemporary Chinese Art”, Springer, 2020. p.493), to depict a white horse standing in the water. The water reaches the horse’s knees, but the horse stands calmly showing its profile. There is a scheme of traditional Chinese blue-and-white porcelain depicted on its back. A blend of blue, white and purple is applied to the background of this painting. As the artist noted, the horse in the water implies an idiom from the “Analects of Confucius” by Confucius, “that which passes is like a river, flowing days and nights, without ceasing (逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜),” and the scheme of blue-and-white porcelain carries childhood memory of the artist. (徐累（1963年生）， CHRISTIE’S 佳士得，https://www.christies.com/zh/lot/lot-6238512). (Yifan Shang ‘25)