Weiner Mihályné szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 12. (Budapest, 1970)

HOPP FERENC MÚZEUM — MUSÉE FERENC HOPP - Horváth, Tibor: Report on the Activities of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts in 1968

Fig. 5. China. Radish and Chinese Cabbage. Ink and colours on paper. Dated 1944. 81 X 50 cm. Inv. No.: 68.51. — Painted by Yü Fei-an (1889—1959), known both as a painter and a calligrapher. He was a student of Ch'i Pai-shih, and painted flowers, birds, vegetables and made decorative drawings. From 1935 on he drew inspiration from the style of the Sung painters. His models were chiefly the painters of flowers and birds of that time. Later on he developed his individual style. He devoted himself not only to painting, but also to the classical literature and the theory and history of Chinese art. To him it was most important to incorporate form with spirit. He also showed a preference for calligraphy. Pigeons, flowers and vegetables formed the dominant theme of his work. The backgrounds of his paintings are often decorated by luxurious, gay colours. In his essay "On the Colouring of the Chinese Painting" he placed an emphasis on colouring. So almost all of his paintings are colourful, evoking joy and pleasure. His aim was to call the attention to deeper feeling for life and beauty. Several of his works became known as New Year pictures and "propaganda paintings", such as the one entitled "Long live the Peace". In his paintings he tried to exhibit not purely the visual reality, but also his soul and feelings. As a recognition of his artist activities he was appointed Deputy-chairman of the Chinese Art Research Association in Peking, and teacher of the National Art Academy. He was also a member of the People's Council in Peking. This painting in • our collection was executed on white paper. On the left it shows a red radish with rich leaves, on which a ladybird is visible. On the right there is a Chinese cabbage with two praying mantises on their leaves. Lower down there are three red peppers. As we have already mentioned before, Yü Fei-an devoted himself also to calligraphy. He combined painting with calligraphy and seals in order to achieve the desired artistic effect. As we know, more and more inscriptions could be found on paintings from the Sung period on. This practice became general after Yuan. On one hand they enrich the composition in unity of painting, literature, calligraphy and the art of seals, on other hand they highlight the message of the paintings. In this painting the artist shows not only a still life, but also his love for beauty of everyday things. An inscription and two seals can be found at the upper righthand. The inscription was written in verse: Chih yi tzu tan po an tsu fen g kao liang shih ju sui wu ju ho ju tz'u wei ch'ang. Chia shen ch'iu ni Yuan jen pi Fei-an. (They cannot be regarded as delicacies, neither can one live on them. Though the meat is a superb food, how can it rival in taste with them. Painted by Fei-an in the autumn of the year chia-shen [1944] in the style of the Yuan painters.) The upper seal reads: Yü Chao chih yin (Seal of Yü Chao). The lower one of four characters can be partly deciphered as Fei jen-shih. L. K.