Artwork Description

Title: Before Weaving Embroidery Drawing
Artist: Shaoli Chen
Date: 2015
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 31.5 x 23.6 in (80 x 60 cm)

Artwork Identification:
In Before Weaving Embroidery Drawing, Shaoli Chen juxtaposes a poised nude female figure in the foreground with a meticulously detailed scene of refined court ladies engaged in embroidery within a palace garden setting. This synthesis of classical Chinese narrative painting with Western portraiture renders a striking meditation on femininity, leisure, and beauty.

Artistic Style and Influences:
Chen’s signature fusion of East and West is once again evident in this composition. The nude figure—graceful and sculpturally rendered in the tradition of European oil painting—is set against a backdrop heavily inspired by Qing dynasty genre scenes and traditional figure scrolls. The decorative flatness of the background contrasts with the dimensional realism of the sitter, emphasizing cultural layering and temporal dissonance.

Historical Context:
Painted in 2015, this work reflects the broader reexamination of tradition within Chinese contemporary art. In the post-Cultural Revolution period, artists such as Chen, trained in Western oil techniques, sought to reconcile China’s painterly past with modern form. This painting stands as a vivid dialogue between classical ideals of virtue and the artist’s subtly modern commentary on sensuality and identity.

Provenance:
Provenance documentation can be provided upon request.

Condition and Conservation:
Very good condition. The canvas and frame are both stable and undamaged. The colors retain their original saturation and detail.

Artistic Significance:
This painting exemplifies Shaoli Chen’s masterful ability to recontextualize Chinese art history within the framework of contemporary figuration. The arresting gaze of the subject, her calm self-possession, and the embedded traditional motifs all point toward a narrative that is both historically aware and forward-looking. A compelling acquisition for collectors of cross-cultural portraiture or Chinese contemporary oil painting.