Luo Pin ‘Bamboo’

China’s favorite plant

Bamboo imagery has always occupied an important place in Chinese painting. Since the earliest periods of its history, artists would depict bamboo stalks with leaves using varying textures and contrasting planes to demonstrate their technical skill. The popularity of this plant as landscape material is explained by its strong symbolism. In China, bamboo is traditionally associated with virtue and represents everything that makes a good man. One Chinese poet even describes the merits of bamboo based on its features: its deep root stands for determination, straight stem exemplifies nobility, its simple interior moderation and its clean exterior abstinence. As a rule, bamboo painters would also include a poem that clarified the message of the work and echoed its exquisite calligraphy. Thus, the depiction of bamboo gradually grew from a mere motif to a whole cultural concept. No wonder it is still one of the central images of local art.

Cherish the old, welcome the new

Despite new ideas and styles that have appeared in recent decades, modern Chinese artists remain faithful to classic canons and keep using old symbols in their work combining them with elements typical for contemporary art. And even paintings created on the boundary between realism and modernism – like ‘Bamboo’ by Luo Pin – have certain transitional traits that make them so appealing. This drawing shows nothing but a bamboo stalk. But the author added perspective and dynamics that can rarely be seen in traditional works. As such, the painting became unexpectedly vivid and evocative:

• - The shading of bamboo leaves varies to reflect their relative distance to the viewer. That creates a sense of depth in the painting.
• - The stalk is swayed by the wind and the leaves flutter. We can see it by their direction and the blurred effect used by the artist. It’s like he froze the moment and captured all the tiny movements of numerous leaves en masse.
• - There is nothing in this work – no indication of the season, time of the day, surrounding scenery – except this impression of movement, windiness and fluttering. And that what makes it so existentially brilliant.

The same effect can be achieved not only in ink, but also in oil – if it’s applied with sufficient skill! Our talented artists created a marvelous hand-painted replica of Luo Pin’s work that carefully repeats his manner and looks almost like the original. If you are fascinated with Chinese culture, decorating your home with this elegant and atmospheric painting will be a nice designer’s move!