Formal_Analysis_Of_Looking_At_Crab-apple_Blossoms_At_Night

Formal Analysis Of Looking At Crab-apple Blossoms At Night In the words of Frank Lloyd Wright, “Form follows function - that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.” This is the relationship of form to function found in the Southern Song court painting, Looking at Crab-apple Blossoms at Night. Painted on a silk fan with ink and color, the piece serves a purpose beyond its artistic worth by functioning as a fan. The content of the fan’s imagery is a representation of a poem composed by Su Shi for the emperor Lizong. Looking at Crab-apple Blossoms at Night is, therefore, uniquely able to forge a marriage between not just form and function, but also content. Because the fan was painted mostly in ink, the silk was most likely covered in a glaze to prevent a diluting of the boldness of the ink due to absorption by the silk. Conversely, sizing silk makes the surface slick and more difficult to paint on. Such a surface requires meticulous and deliberate strokes. Therefore, the artist undoubtedly put a great deal of effort into the composition and content while maintaining a clean and intentional brushstroke. The scene portrayed on function, night, form, fan, looking, crab-apple, content, blossoms, silk, poem, imagery, composition, through, structure, serves, piece, one, ink, comfort, while, viewer, union, tranquil, therefore, surface, spiritual, soothing, silver, serenity, serene, scene, requires, purpose, painting, painted