Author:

Size:Length:193.8 x Width:53 (cm)

Size description：298x72x5.7(含框)

Introduction：Shen Pingshan (1934–2014), born in Zhao'an County, Fujian Province, People's Republic of China, was a blind calligrapher and painter. He served as vice chairman of the Zhangzhou City Disabled Persons' Federation, vice chairman of the Zhao'an County Disabled Persons' Federation, and advisor to the Zhao'an County Federation of Literary and Art Circles. In 1991 he was recognized as a self-improvement role model for persons with disabilities, and received the inaugural National Special Arts Award for Persons with Disabilities.

Shen loved calligraphy and painting from childhood; however, he suffered from polio and was chronically ill. He subsequently contracted iritis and glaucoma, and ultimately became permanently blind following an unsuccessful surgical procedure. Undaunted, Shen continued to create, independently developing a "Shen family painting technique for the blind." In the period after 1990, he was invited to hold exhibitions in Beijing, Shanghai, Fuzhou, and other cities, gaining wide recognition in art circles, before passing away due to illness in 2014.

This work, titled "Plum Blossoms," was a donation made in 2006 when he was invited to Taiwan to participate in the solo exhibition "Not Blind at All—Shen Ping-shan, Blind Calligrapher and Painter from the Mainland," jointly organized by the R.O.C. Association for the Promotion of Arts and Culture for People with Disabilities and the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Management Office. His early devoted practice of calligraphy made Shen's brushwork experienced and assured: in this work, an aged plum tree rises from below, twisting through several turns to complete an unusually shaped, dynamically charged trunk, before red blossoms are scattered freely along its fine branches. The strongly contrasting red and black colors set against pure-white Xuan paper reflect and enhance each other, creating a powerful visual impact.

This kind of sketched plum—executed with freehand, abbreviated strokes, simple in form and sparse in meaning—possesses a quality of Chan contemplation. It places particular importance on the expression of the painter's inner feelings, calling to mind the late-Ming literati painter Xu Wei or the painter-monk Bada Shanren, with their spirit of unconventional individualism and eccentric, inspired personal style. The celebrated ink master Fan Tseng once remarked of Shen’s work: "Within the breast lies the light and shadow of a vast universe; beneath the brush one perceives the wisdom of the Tathagata"—a testament to his singular place in the modern Chinese art world.

Accession Number:PT09500300

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