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About the artwork

春困图 (Spring Leisure), this work captures the languid ease that accompanies the arrival of spring. A reclining figure rests indoors, half-awake and half-dreaming, surrounded by blooming flowers that drift between interior and exterior space. The softened lines and muted washes evoke drowsiness, warmth, and sensual comfort, while floral motifs suggest renewal and quiet pleasure. In Chinese culture, “spring fatigue” reflects the body’s gentle surrender to seasonal change. Through this intimate domestic scene, Li Jin blends classical ink traditions with everyday human experience, inviting viewers to embrace rest, indulgence, and the poetry of unhurried time. 兽炭炉围羊羔酒 共醉坐歌锦帐中 李津书 By the charcoal stove, we gather over lamb stew and wine; All together we grow drunk, seated and singing within embroidered tents. Written by Li Jin

About the artist

Li Jin (b. 1958, Tianjin, China) is one of China’s most beloved contemporary ink painters, celebrated for transforming everyday moment into colourful, whimsical narratives. A member of the New Literati movement, Li draws on the classical literati tradition and reinvigorates it with vivid humour and modern flair. His expressive brushwork and candid subject matter—full of food, sensuality, and playful self-portraits—redefine the boundaries of traditional ink painting.

Educated at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts (BA, 1983), where he later served as Associate Professor, Li Jin has exhibited globally in China, the U.S., Australia, Germany, and beyond. His works are in prestigious collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Seattle Art Museum, National Art Museum of China, Hong Kong Museum of Art, and Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

Indeed, even at their most extravagant, Li Jin's pleasures scenes are tinged with the melancholy of solitude and the unreality of a dream or a memory.