Chen Gua
Bold freehand flower-and-bird paintings
Chen Gua(陈栝), styled Zizheng(子正) and also known as Tuojiang(沱江), was from Changzhou in Suzhou Prefecture during the Ming Dynasty (today’s Suzhou, Jiangsu) and was the son of the master of flower-and-bird painting, Chen Chun(陈淳) (also known as Chen Daofu(陈道复)). His artistic style inherited and developed his father’s freehand flower-and-bird painting techniques, not sticking strictly to form, with a bold and expressive brushwork. His representative works include 'Qing Yun Mo Hua' and 'Mo Hua Juan'. Chen Gua died young, so few of his works survived, but many were collected by the Qing imperial court. Among them, 'Qing Yun Mo Hua' was especially cherished by Emperor Qianlong, who wrote ten poems for it and stamped over thirty seals. His works are highly valuable in the art market. For example, 'Qing Yun Mo Hua' once sold for 113.7 million yuan, and some of his pieces were featured in the 2018 exhibition 'One Flower, One World: Flower-and-Bird Paintings from the Long Museum Collection'.