Artwork Description

Title: Peach Blossom Ridge
Artist: Li Jiang
Date: 2016
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 19.7 x 23.6 in (50 x 60 cm)

1. Artwork Identification:
Peach Blossom Ridge is a vivid and expressive oil painting by Li Jiang, characterized by its energetic lines, vibrant palette, and densely layered forms. The composition centers around blooming peach trees set against a rolling mountainous landscape rendered in stylized contours and bold colors. The visible pencil underdrawing and playful inclusion of white dove motifs create a dynamic interplay between spontaneity and intention.

2. Artistic Style and Influences:
Li Jiang is a key figure in the Yunnan School, a movement known for its vibrant, decorative expressionism and synthesis of folk art, symbolism, and modern aesthetics. Trained under the influential Ting Shao Kuang, Jiang carries forward this legacy through his unique visual language that draws from Chinese neolithic patterns, Taoist philosophy, and the decorative motifs of his cultural heritage. In Peach Blossom Ridge, he skillfully blends traditional themes of renewal and harmony with a distinctly contemporary visual sensibility.

3. Historical Context:
As part of the second wave of Yunnan School painters who emerged after China’s Cultural Revolution, Li Jiang represents a generation of artists reasserting individual expression through symbolic, color-saturated imagery. Painted in 2016, this work reflects his continued exploration of beauty, nature, and inner joy as meditative counterpoints to modern chaos and displacement—particularly significant given his move to the United States in 1989 in search of artistic freedom.

4. Provenance:
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

5. Condition and Conservation:
The artwork is in very good condition. The canvas surface is stable and well-preserved, with no visible signs of damage, restoration, or paint loss. It is presented in a substantial wooden frame that enhances the visual richness of the composition.

6. Artistic Significance:
Li Jiang’s Peach Blossom Ridge stands as a masterful example of Yunnan School painting, combining emotional warmth with technical fluidity. The joyful tension between order and chaos, structure and ornament, lends the work its compelling presence. This piece is not only a testament to the enduring influence of post-revolutionary Chinese modernism but also a collector-worthy example of cross-cultural artistic dialogue.