Bamboo-Covered Stream in Spring Rain
1441
ink
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
1441
ink
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Bamboo-Covered Stream in Spring Rain is a 1441 ink by Xia Chang, a ming_painting work, depicting bamboo, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
You see a long strip of paper unrolling like a movie: slender bamboo stalks and leaves bending in spring rain beside a narrow stream. The artist painted this as a gift for a friend who planted bamboo around his retirement home. In Chinese culture, bamboo stands for resilience—it bends but never snaps. Xia Chang used just ink, no color, and each leaf is one quick brushstroke. To see how ink can feel like wind and rain, look up the technique called cross-hatching.
