Birds on Red Plum
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Birds on Red Plum” now? Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
Ren Yi was among the most successful and influential among Chinese painters of the so-called Shanghai School. Arriving in Shanghai in 1857, he took the artistic name “bonian” (one-hundred years), claiming that it would take him a century to achieve success. However, by 1875 Ren Yi was the best-known painter in Shanghai. His highly sought-after bird-and-flower paintings initially followed the Song dynasty (960–1279) convention of applying rich color fields within outlines, producing decorative patterning with lifelike representation. This work represents his mature, more spontaneous style that is characterized by looser brushwork, more ink washes, and greater tonal variation.
Read on
Six pairs of sparrows are perched among the branches of a weathered plum tree that is partially obscured by a large, moss-covered boulder. Since the delicate, five-petal plum blossom appears at the earliest sign of spring, often when the ground is still covered with snow, it is interpreted both as a harbinger of spring and as a symbol for endurance and virtue in the face of adversity. Here, Ren Yi captured the frenetic energy of the sparrows, also a sign of spring, by depicting each one in a unique pose.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Details
- Accession number
- 1943.148
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — CC0
