Hibiscus and Bird

ZHAO SHAO'ANG (1905-1998), YE SHAOBING (1896-1968), HE QIYUAN (1899-1970), ZHOU YIFENG (1890-1982) & RONG SHUSHI (1903-1996) Hibiscus and Bird Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper 88.2 x 34.1 cm. (34 ¾ x 13 3/8 in.) Inscribed by Rong Shushi, with one seal of each artist Dated summer, xinmao year (1951) Dedicated to Baling SPECIALIST’S NOTE: Wu Baling (1904-1976) was born in Nanhai, Guangdong. The name of his studio was Kanyue Lou, which can be directly translated as “Viewing-the-Moon Pavilion”. As the founder of the Yung Sheh Hiking Club, he joined the Overseas Chinese Daily News in 1936 and was promoted to Chief Editor of the Hong Kong News section. During his tenure, he invited artists to inscribe the covers of his publications, and befriended many Hong Kong artists, including Zhou Qianqiu (1910-2006), Zhao Shao’ang (1905-1998), Huang Bore (1901-1968) etc. Wu attended many of their literary gatherings and received many works from them. This painting was likely to be painted during one of the literary gatherings that Wu Baling attended. All five artists are among the most infamous seven students of Gao Qifeng (1889-1933), one of the founders of the Lingnan Painting School.