Characteristics of Literati Bird-and-Flower Painting in the Mid-Qing Dynasty: A Case Study of Hua Yan's "Duck in a Peach-Shaded Pond"

Abstract

In the mid-Qing Dynasty, the prosperity of the art market and the rise of the public's aesthetic tastes led to the transformation of literati flower-and-bird paintings. Hua Yan, as a representative figure of literati bird-and-flower paintings during this period, pioneered a style that combined meticulous work with freehand brushwork, achieving the integration of literati spirit and popular aesthetics. This article takes his late representative work“Duck in a Peach-Shaded Pond Painting”as the research object, combining image analysis and historical research, and systematically analyzes his artistic language from aspects such as composition, modeling, and brushwork, exploring the cultural metaphors and emotional projections carried by the“duck bathing”imagery. The research reveals that Hua Yan successfully integrated urban tastes and individualized expression while inheriting the spirit of traditional literati paintings, achieving an aesthetic breakthrough of“transforming vulgarity into elegance".“Duck in a Peach-Shaded Pond Painting”not only embodies the literati's pursuit of transcendent, serene, and free spirit, but also reflects the important trend of Chinese painting in the 18th century, from“exclusive appreciation”to“shared appreciation". Hua Yan's artistic practice holds a crucial position in the development of literati flower-and-bird paintings in the Qing Dynasty, and also provides a classic example for the modern transformation and market integration of Chinese painting.