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Painting the Eye of the Dragon
ID: OP-WM001
Artist: Unknown
Date: Contemporary
Size: 20.5 x 10 in. with mounting
Ink and color on paper, mounted on satin, ready for framing .
Price: $195
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Painting the Eye of the Dragon
"Painting the Eye of the Dragon" is a theme deriving from traditional Chinese painting criticism. It suggests superlative talent on the part of the artist. The eye was believed to reveal the spirit of the person or being, and in actual practice everything else was painted first, leaving as the last step the filling-in of the eye. If executed with consummate skill, this last touch was believed to bring the subject of the painting to life. In this painting, the artist holds a pointed brush, assisted by a young boy holding a color palette. Both are recoiling in shock, because after the artist added the eye to the dragon, the dragon came to life and emerged from the wall. Other objects enhance the effect of a subject transformed through the supernatural painting abilities of the artist: outward-pointing bamboo pieces supporting the fan, the tilted balcony on which the artist and his assistant stand, and the half-hidden body of the dragon on the wall.
