Bird and Rock
Hanging scroll, ink and colour on paper
39 3/8 in. × 14 9/16 in. (100 × 37 cm.)
Signed, with three seals of the artist

Pan Tianshou taught himself to paint using the Mustard Seed Garden Manual before receiving instruction in college from Li Shutong (Hongyi, 1880–1942), the pioneering teacher of Western-style painting. In 1925 Pan went to Shanghai, where he met Wu Changshi (1844–1927), who instructed him in seal- and clerical-script calligraphy. In 1928 Lin Fengmian (1900–1991) appointed Pan to the faculty of the newly founded Hangzhou Art Academy as professor of traditional painting. Pan remained at the academy for the rest of his life, serving as director from 1959 to 1971, when he was persecuted and died during the Cultural Revolution.

This handscroll exemplifies Pan's ability to create a formal language to express his emotions. Although his subject matter illustrates the traditional theme of the four seasons and his depictions recall the brush idioms of Ming and Qing scholar-artists, his exaggerated forms and angular calligraphy embody his fiercely independent spirit.