Burgundy Morning Glories

Inscription: Morning glories in full bloom look like a gathering of purple clouds in the sky. Geyi, August 1973.

The large, bold, and free brushstrokes used to create the vines and the bright colors used to create the flowers of the morning glory in this painting are typical of paintings of the Shanghai school. This school arose during the last half of the 1800s, when Shanghai became one of China's great port cities. The wealth of that city created a demand for bold and decorative paintings for display in their mansions, and for this purpose relatively simple but expressive "big brush" paintings were created in large numbers by an ever-expanding group of artists.

By the early part of the twentieth century the Shanghai school had become internationally renowned. Wang Geyi was one of the last artists active in this style. He studied painting with the great master Wu Changshi (1844–1927) and was associated with other great early twentieth-century painters such as Wang Zhen (Wang Yiting, 1867–1938) and Zhang Daqian (1899–1983). Wang Geyi's paintings were popular both in China and abroad; in 1926 one received an award in London and another became part of the collection of the Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst (Museum of Far Eastern Art), Berlin. In 1928 Wang Geyi joined Zhang Daqian, Wang Zhen, and other artists on a tour of Japan.