「Look at the Picture and Talk about the Painting」The “Love Letter” of the Year of the Horse in Sanyu’s Brushstrokes

On Valentine’s Day of the Year of the Horse, the first person that came to my mind was Sanyu. Although the horses in his paintings mostly convey the loneliness of an outsider, the changes in color hide a complete progression of emotions.

At first, it was pink. In “Two Horses on a Carpet”, the rouge tinted the picture. The two horses had smooth lines, rubbing their cheeks together in the pink dreamland, like the drowsy afternoon of the first encounter of love, never ending, warm and full. The world shrank to the point where only each other’s breaths remained.

As time goes by, the colors shift from light and airy to somber and deep, replaced by the profound and weighty ink tones and solitary green. The horses become tiny in the vast expanse of the universe, as if in the boundless void, they have found their soulmates. In the minimalist lines, the two horses stand side by side in the wilderness, and their companionship has evolved from physical closeness to a deep-seated bond of fate within their very beings.

True affection can withstand the passionate heat of romance and also endure the quiet simplicity of daily life. In this galloping Year of the Horse, may you have the initial thrill of first meeting and also the confidence to stand side by side with someone after experiencing all the vicissitudes of life.

The tea for today is all gone. Next time, I’ll brew a fresh pot and enjoy art with you again.