Butterflies and crickets

Born in Shandong, Yu Fei-an lived and worked in Beijing, where he was a prominent painter and calligrapher, and served as vice president of the Beijing Painting Academy. His knowledge and interest in Song dynasty bird-and-flower painting led him to write a treatise on the traditional use of color in Chinese painting, and imbued his own style of painting. His calligraphy, in the slender gold script style associated with the Song emperor Huizong, further reflects his meticulous approach. Despite all its mining of tradition, Yu’s art reflects the conscious modernization of Chinese painting, especially in his fresh use of color.