Bamboo, Orchids, and Rocks,

1765

Renowned for his paintings of bamboo and orchids as well as for his poetry, the artist and poet Zheng Xie served as a government official, retiring in 1753. In his remaining years, he created a large number of paintings and calligraphies as gifts and for sale. Here poetic inscriptions are written on two rocks as if carved into their surfaces, and the date of 1765 appears at the lower left. This composition of stalks of bamboo growing on the right and tall rocks with orchids arranged on the left appears in at least two other paintings by the artist, and all three paintings bear the same poetic inscriptions written on the rocks. This probably indicates that this was a stock image in Zheng’s repertoire.