凝香图Gathered Fragrance

A painting of peonies alone, with no birds. Three clusters grow from old woody stems at the lower right; the stems, in ochre and ink, are wiry and twisting and studded with small buds. The flowers sit at three levels: a deep rouge bloom leads at the top with peach flowers and buds beside it; a single crimson flower reaches out in the middle; and at the bottom a large pink bloom leans against a deep red one, every petal shaded and the stamens golden. The leaves, in dark and pale ink-green, are laid in without outline and veined with quick strokes, dense in places and open in others, and the bare paper gives the whole room to breathe.

The title at the upper left reads “Gathered Fragrance”, and the inscription records that it was painted beside West Lake in Hangzhou in the winter of 2025. Gathered fragrance is scent that lingers: the richness of the peony, and a wish that good things stay.

此幅纯写牡丹，不着禽鸟。三丛牡丹自右下老干间生发，枝条以赭墨写出，劲挺盘曲，满缀细刺状芽点；花分三层，上方胭脂深红一朵居首，旁有桃红数朵与花苞相映，中部朱红一朵横出，下部粉红大朵与深红相依，瓣瓣分染，花蕊金黄。叶片浓淡墨绿相间，以没骨法铺写，筋脉勾勒利落，疏密有致，留白处空灵透气。

左上题“凝香图”，款记“乙巳冬月于杭州西子湖畔”。凝香者，花香凝聚不散，写牡丹之浓艳芬芳，亦寓美好长驻。