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. This is no easy task.
She must be able to ink her brush in such a way as to give a
clear outline of the limb, and at the same time to produce such
shading as she may desire. Should her outline be defective, she
dare not retouch it; should her shading be too heavy or
insufficient, she cannot take from it and she may not add to it,
as this would make it defective in the matter of calligraphy. A
stroke once placed upon her paper, for they are done on paper, is
there forever. This style of work is among the most difficult in
Chinese art."
After securing these paintings, I showed them to a number of the
best artists of the present day in Peking, and they all
pronounced them good specimens of plum blossom work in
monochrome, and they agreed with Lady Miao, that if the Empress
Dowager had given her whole time to painting she would have
passed into history as one of the great artists of the present
dynasty.
One day when one of her court painters called I showed him these
pictures. He agreed with all the others as to the quality of her
brush work, but called my attention to a diamond shaped twining
of the branches in one of them.
"That," said he, "is proof positive that it is her work."
"Why?" I inquired.
"Because a professional artist would never twine the twigs in
that fashion."
"And why not?"
"They would not do it," he replied. "It is not artistic."
"And why do not her friends call her attention to this fact?" I
inquired
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