Small Sketches Make Colorful World

Tang Hui

Album of paintings originated from Tang dynasty and thrived during Ming and Qing dynasties. Also known as short sketch, album and copies, album of paintings are seen as a mounting form for short sketches, personal letters, silk fans, folding fans and other painting works collected by the painting collectors for appreciation. The set of album appeared in Ming and Qing dynasties, which was mounted ahead of time, and it became painting album later.

In The Selection of Album, the author has systematically arranged the representative works that had been collected in Rong Bao Zhai form painters in different dynasties. All the carefully combed and edited works are for readers' appreciation. This album is not only a study and presentation of Chinese painting works and their creation but also the reflection of hundreds years of culture for Rong Bao Zhai. These masters include Lan Ying, the representative painter in “Zhe School”during late Ming and early Qing period, Xiao Yuncong, a representative of “Gu Shu”, Wang Gai, a scholar in the early Qing dynasty and Wu Shixian from “Li school”, Huang Shen, one of the “ Yangzhou Eight Eccentric Artists”, Cao Jian who is not that famous but proficient in painting skills, Ren Xiong and Wu Changshuo, two masters from “Shanghai school” in modern times, as well as master Huang Binhong and Qi Baishi. In this album, the author displays the mainstream of painting since the late Ming dynasty form a certain perspective. Tracing of the past, we can find the historical development trials and relationship of Chinese painting science. There are many famous scholars, gentries and other ordinary painters whose outstanding painting skills are not known, but their works are regarded as proceeded short sketches and significant supplement for the exsiting “classic” paintings. From the perspective of the theme and content of The Selection of Album, we can find that it includes three main types: landscape, figure, flowers and birds. Besides, it also contains some themes on rivers, landscape in villages, Taoist and beautiful women, animals and plants. The small sketches in these paintings not only depict and reproduce the colorful world, but also reflect the view of nature, philosophy and world view in Chinese classical aesthetics, which can be regarded as the historical inheritance of the ideas in Chinese painting works.

Our motto is “Make friends through literature, Become profound with proficiency”. Wish Rong Bao Zhai's Selection of Album be a reference sample for calligraphy and painting amateurs to study on art.