Plum Blossom

This hanging scroll of flowering plum branches by the mid-Qing amateur painter, Tong Yu, is painted in the monochrome ink-plum or momei genre, which stresses expressiveness over the faithful depiction of the subject. Here, the artist combines two venerable ink-plum techniques: the reverse-saturation process and the "circle-petal" method. In the work, Tong Yu covers the entire surface of the paper with a pale-gray ink wash except for the plum blossom petals, which are left in reserve and then further defined by flicks of the brush dipped in rich black ink.

Striated "flying white" strokes of the brush, which form by the uneven laying of ink during the drag of the brush across the surface of the paper, define the main branches of the plum tree. Coal-black dabs and quick trailings that puddle and diffuse over the lightly dampened paper are overlaid by wet gray brushstrokes to form the stems of the branches. The dabs are suggestive—but not descriptive—of ancient fungal growth, old stubs, or new shoots.

The cursive script of the accompanying poetic inscription is executed in much the same lyrical brush manner. Even the overall shapes of the plum branch and the artist’s inscription are similar in configuration, and this formal unity is underscored by the parallel placement of red artist’s seals at the end of the poem and at the bottom left of the painting panel.