Roses and Iris — Wen Ying

An album leaf depicting roses and iris, painted in ink and colour on silk in the mogu (boneless) technique.

Wen Ying (文瑩). c. 1918.

Wen Ying was a late Qing and early Republic period artist working in the huaniaohua (flower-and-bird painting) tradition. The mogu technique — building forms through layered colour washes without ink outlines — gives these paintings their characteristic softness and luminosity. This leaf comes from an album of flower-and-butterfly studies that demonstrates refined brushwork and a delicate sense of colour.

Ink and colour on silk. Sheet size approximately 27.8 × 33.3 cm. Good.