The summer cloud brings the rain away,Yu Qiping

Yu Qiping’s handscroll paintings, with their delicate linework and soft palettes, can be mistaken for the fine craftsmanship of a Qing Dynasty artist. Though rather than painting court scenes, Yu depicts the lives of monks and commoners set in traditional Chinese courtyards.

In The Summer Cloud Brings the Rain Away (2021), one monk pauses to admire his surroundings, while another slumbers beside a full cup of tea and a vase of blossoms. Though quiet and serene, the work contains abundant detail: Both monks wear small, gold hoop earrings; calligraphy brushes have a touch of black ink on their tips; and an open book has vertical lines for writing.

This care and precision (which the artist partially attributes to being a Virgo) can be found throughout Yu’s work, including his more sprawling handscrolls—like Nice flower, nice wind and nice day (2021)—which give way to multiple narrative scenes. Other works, such as Intoxicated in aromatherapy (2021) and Let’s talk about ordinary (2021), leave more room for ambiguity. Though he has declined to reveal the exact stories behind his paintings, Yu has said that his characters are versions of himself.

Yu rounded out the final months of 2021 with a solo show, “Sorrowful Days and Nights,” at Cospace Contemporary Art Gallery in Shanghai, and also exhibited in the gallery’s group presentation at ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair.

The Summer Cloud Brings the Rain Away, 2021 Ink on paper 16 9/10 × 23 9/10 in 43 × 60.7 cm