‘Heaven took a handful of colors and scattered them upon the earth—roses, violets, pomegranates, plantain lilies, lychnis—each touched by one or several of these hues...’
Flowers are a recurring motif in Sanyu's oil paintings, yet they are exceptionally rare in his works on paper. According to the Catalogue Raisonné of Sanyu's Drawings and Watercolors, only about ten works on paper feature flowers as their primary subject—a test.mes nt to the rarity of such pieces. Corbeille de fleurs departs from the artist's characteristically spontaneous and improvisational sketching style, showcasing delicate and deliberate brushwork. Through intricately woven lines, Sanyu renders the lush, exuberant blooming of a bouquet spilling from the basket. A playful bow adorns the basket, adding a touch of warmth and charm. This profusion of blossoms inevitably evokes the graceful and captivating female figures that populate the artist's oeuvre. The work not only served as the prototype for an oil painting of flowers created by the artist in 1930 but its image was also featured on the invitation card for Sanyu's 1933 solo exhibition in Amsterdam—underscoring the unique and precious significance of this piece within the artist's body of work.
The oil painting created based on Corbeille de fleurs as its prototype.
「上天拿着一把颜色往地面上撒，玫瑰、罗兰、石榴、玉簪、剪秋箩，各样都沾到一种或几种的色泽……」
花卉是常玉油畫作品中反覆出現的母題，然而在其紙上創作中卻殊為少見。據《常玉素描與水彩全集》記載，以花卉為主要題材的紙上作品僅約十幅左右，足見此類作品之珍稀。《花籃》一作，有別於藝術家慣常即興隨性的素描風格，筆觸細膩而富經營，以繁複交織的線條，鋪陳出花束於籃中紛繁盛放、生意盎然的姿態。籃上點綴的蝴蝶結，活潑可愛，更添幾許溫馨情致。這簇擁綻放的豐美花束，不禁讓人聯想起藝術家筆下那些姿態萬千、美好動人的女性身影。此作不僅是藝術家1930年一幅油畫花卉作品的原型，其畫面更曾被印製於1933年常玉阿姆斯特丹個展的邀請函之上，足見此作在藝術家創作譜系中獨特而珍貴的意義。
此油畫作品是以《花籃》為原型所創作。