A Bouquet of Flowers

Artist Bio
Little is known about the life of Sunqua. One of the most prominent China trade painters in Guangzhou, Sunqua was active from 1830 to 1870. He specialised in oil painting, and his favourite subjects were ships and scenes of trading ports. He also worked in watercolour on such subjects as butterflies, flowers and birds that delighted the eye of Westerners. His style of painting is characterised by the use of white dots to highlight small figures, and of a horizontal shaft of light on the sea surface to give a feeling of depth. Sunqua usually signed his name in block letters at the lower right corner of the painting. Around 1857 Sunqua opened his workshop in Hong Kong.
Description
This still life is a work by Sunqua, one of the most prominent trade painters in Canton of his day. Active from 1830 to 1870s, he specialised in oil paintings, and his favourite subjects were ships and scenes of trading ports. Despite the use of Western art medium and the minimal application of chiaroscuro to be observed here, the meticulous treatment of the subject, the infusive pigmentation and the thick palette all show the retention of Chinese painting styles and techniques.
—Collection of Hong Kong Museum of Art
More information
Hong Kong Museum of Art