宋
軸 絹本設色
Sung dynasty
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk 196cm (H) x 64cm (W)
宋徽宗(1082-1135年)，姓趙名佶，擅長書畫，也好收藏歷代作品，珍藏百倍於前朝。本幅梅枝上棲息白頭翁二隻，其間胡蜂飛繞，下有山礬二株，並以「瘦金書」書寫款題。構圖簡潔，用筆秀瘦而內含勁力，表現冬日的清疏。畫者仔細觀察實物，使線條隨物形而變化，加上精心構想，梅幹的「S」型富韻律感，展現超越自然實景的理想化美感。
The Sung dynasty emperor Huizong (1082-1135) also had the common name Chao Chi. Excelling at painting and calligraphy, he was also an astute collector of works of art, gradually amassing a collection of precious masterpieces at the court that far exceeded the scope and quality of those of previous dynasties. This work shows a pair of Chinese bulbuls perching on the branch of a plum tree in blossom with a wasp flying about. Below are two stalks of blossoming sweetleaf sprouting up from below, and to the left a poem and to the right a signature, both in Huizong’s distinctive “slender gold script”. The composition is simple yet extremely effective, and the brushwork is elegantly precise yet very strong, expressing the pure and crisp atmosphere of a cold winter day. The artist observed physical forms in detail and drew lines and strokes that closely follow the variations of shapes and textures. In addition, the attention of the artist in composing the scene is reflected in the S-shape of the trunk that rhythmically expands into the upper portion of the scroll to express the idealized beauty of a supra-natural scene.
