32
CHINA
Zhang Fengshan
Celebration of the Spring Festival 1996
watercolour on paper mounted on board 94.5 x 94.5 cm

Zhang Fengshan was born in China in 1940 and teaches at the Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts. His painting celebrates the lunar New Year in Spring, the biggest event in the Chinese calendar, and describes what happens during the celebrations when businesses close and everyone takes a few days’ holiday. People wear new clothes and shoes, visit their families to pay their respects, and carry little presents. The rattle and string of firecrackers refer to the noisy festivities; and wafting incense to the people’s reverence for their ancestors and gods. The large half-covered Chinese character, ‘fu’, means happiness, good fortune, and prosperity; the girl holds up the character ‘chun’ meaning Spring. The complex design creates the impression that the viewer is amongst the excitement of sights, sounds, and scents.