花开富贵Peonies in Full Bloom

Flowers fill this scroll from top to bottom in one unbroken stream. Dozens of peonies in vermilion, rouge, pink, bright yellow and apricot turn this way and that, some wide open and some still closing, large and small, crowded in places and open in others. The petals are built up in layered washes without outline, the golden stamens dotted on thickly. The leaves are painted in rich, wet ink flecked with mineral green, which makes the flowers glow. On the left, slender sprays of red buds lean out past the edge of the mass and keep it lively; at the lower right, beside a sloping rock, clumps of narcissus with white flowers and yellow hearts spread their long leaves, a cool corner set against all that color.

The title at the upper left, written in seal script, reads Peonies in Full Bloom, literally “flowers open, wealth and honor.” The peony, king of flowers, stands for wealth and rank, and flowers at their peak promise prosperity: one of the best-loved subjects of auspicious painting.

此幅满纸繁花，自顶至底一气贯下。牡丹数十朵，朱红、胭脂、粉红、明黄、杏橙诸色错杂，或正或侧，或开或合，大小相间，疏密有致；瓣以没骨法层层分染，金蕊浓点，花头丰腴饱满。叶以浓墨写出，墨色淋漓，间点石绿，愈衬花色之明艳。左侧红苞小枝数茎斜出，打破边线，平添生意；右下坡石之畔，水仙数丛，白花黄心，长叶纷披，清雅一隅，与满幅浓艳相映。

左上以篆书题“花开富贵”。牡丹为花中之王，向寓富贵，花开正盛，即富贵昌隆之兆，为吉庆画中最常见之题。