‘GRASSHOPPERS AND FLOWERS’, BY WANG XUETAO (1903-1982)China. Ink and watercolors on paper, with a silk brocade frame and mounted as a hanging scroll. Vividly painted with rockwork issuing flowers, two grasshoppers perched in grass and a large one on a leaf, two insects flying above.Inscriptions: Upper left, signed ‘Xuetao’, and inscribed ‘In the style of Sima Xiugu, on a winter’s night in Chiyuan’. Two seals of the artist, ‘Chiyuan’ and ‘Wang Xuetao yin’.Provenance: Dutch trade.Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, little soiling, minor creasing.Dimensions: Image size 71.8 x 44.8 cm, Size incl. mounting 162 x 56 cmWang Xuetao (1903-1982) was a Chinese painter from Hebei province, who attended the Baoding Zhili Teachers College and the Peking College of Arts. Later he studied under Wang Mengbai, Qi Baishi, and Chen Banding.Sima Xiugu (1832-1855), also known as Sima Zhong, was a native of Shangyuan, today’s Nanjing, and a painter during the Qing dynasty. He is known for his motifs of birds, flowers, insects, and animals, painted with bold and vivid brushwork.Auction resultparison:Type: RelatedAuction: China Guardian Auctions Peking, 27 September 2021, lot 1002Price: CNY 63,250 or approx.EUR 8,800 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writingDescription: Grasshoppers and flowers, Wang Xuetao (1903-1982)Expert remark:pare the related motif, the flowers, rockwork, and grasshoppers. Note the larger size (105 x 36 cm).王雪濤(1903-1982)《花卉圖》中國，紙本水墨設色，掛軸。生動地描繪鷄冠花，兩隻蚱蜢棲息在草叢中，一隻大蚱蜢棲息在葉子上，兩隻小昆蟲在上面飛翔。畫面筆意靈動純熟，色彩濃淡相宜。款識：擬司馬繡穀法 遲園冬夜 雪濤寫；鈴印：遲園，王雪濤印