In 2007, the art historian and curator Lu Peng invited a group of Chinese contemporary artists including Zeng Fanzhi, Zhang Xiaogang, Zhou Chunya, Ye Yongqing, Yue Minjun, Wang Guangyi, Mao Xuhui, Wu Shanzhuan, and Zhang Peili to gather at a resort of Sanya for a ‘brush event’. The artists were asked to explore traditional medium of ink and color using brush on rice paper in reinterpreting the most recognizable themes and imageries within their oeuvre. Like the Orchid Pavilion gathering organized by Wang Xizhi in the Six Dynasties, the Sanya gathering after 1600 years brought contemporary artists together for mutual inspiration and artist creation, reviving the great literati traditional in the Chinese history.

Zhou Chunya is best known for his dynamic, expressive brushstrokes and the unique use of colors in capturing the structure, volume, and essence of the subject matter in his painting. Untitled (Peachblossom) features iconography from traditional Chinese art, which Zhou has explored further in his Rock and Peachblossom Landscape series. In this work, Zhou intends to create a dialogue between the Eastern and Western aesthetics, by synthesizing the Germanic neo-expressionist perspective of brushwork and color with the calligraphic brushstroke and splash color wash in Chinese literati paintings. By contrasting red, green and black, Zhou succinctly delineates the blooming flowers, verdant bush, strenuous branches, and textured rock in this abstract yet highly lyrical landscape.