Exploring The Seasons

ART HISTORY

with Chinese Brushwork

Now on View at the Bruce Museum
BRUC E M USE U M Contemporary Artists/Traditional Forms: Chinese Brushwork
1 Museum Drive • Greenwich, CT
September 28 - December 8, 2019

T raditional Chinese brushwork is a type of painting that

developed out of the practice of calligraphy. Calligraphy is the
use of brush and ink to create the written word; brushwork
artists accompany their writing with illustrations. Brushwork has
been practiced in China for hundreds of years using the same tools
and materials: paint brushes, ink, grinding stones, and paper. Today,
artists continue to produce beautiful brushwork pieces that combine
calligraphy and natural imagery. In Contemporary Artists/Traditional
Forms: Chinese Brushwork, now on view at the Bruce Museum,
artists use their talents to create delicate flowers, landscapes, and
animals that celebrate the transitions between seasons and the
human experience of the natural world.
Sun Wenzhang, The End of Spring. Ink on Paper
Gifted to the Town of Greenwich as part of the
2019 US-China Art and Culture Exchange

You Try It!

Practicing observation of nature is one of life’s simple pleasures. With an
adult’s permission, go outside and spend some time noticing the details
of the landscape around you. Creating your own brushwork painting is
as easy as pulling out a watercolor set and using your observations to
create a beautiful piece of artwork. If you want to truly emulate Chinese
brushwork, write a short poem to go along with your painting. In the
artwork shown at right, by Dang Yejun, the calligraphy translates as “In
the mountains covered by green trees, there is a small building. Here
there lives a talented person, who is retreat from the world.”

GET Creative!
Common Core State Standard:
ELA: Literacy: R.L. 3.3-5.3, R.L. 3.7-6.7, R.L.
3.1-5.1, R.L. 6.4-8.4, R.H. 6-8.4, R.H. 6-8.7 Dang Yejun, Mountains Covered in Green Trees, Ink on Paper
Gifted to the Town of Greenwich as part of the
2019 US-China Art and Culture Exchange