My painting finally came. It is wild…….a duck smashing into water his feathers flying , to the right, to the left….every which way. If you look at it quickly , you miss it……perfect composition, the still point (his eye) in the midst of flurry. It is totally alive.

Wild Duck by Li Shan

One thing is for sure, the painter Li Shan was a genius. The painting itself is about 2 feet high by 2 1/2 feet long. It’s a monumental piece….needs lots of empty space around it.

While Li Shan admires through his painting the duck as a wild beast….you also have the impression that he’s at the same time thinking about dinner. Always a hungry race, the Chinese.

It is interesting to compare the difference of Chinese and Japanese art. Chinese is a little wilder, but holds the first vision the first vision. Japanese a bit more static and contained.